Unfinished Article

a new chapter

2011-09-28T19:11:00.004+08:00

it's been a while since i wrote consistently here. and a lot has changed since those times. i am usually in denial - always wanting to continue from where i've left of. but in those spaces where i stop writing, i've changed and the circumstances have evolved.

personally, i've closed the chapter on one relationship and started another - could this be the final chapter? i guess it's just the way it is - we've both grown and found that we're both looking forward to a different end with different perspectives. like all relationships, we take the good and the bad and make the best of it.

professionally, i've changed my status and i'm being pulled by the tide. it's been a while since i've had control of my working life (have i ever been in control?). i'm now based in the yangon, myanmar. and although i've only been here for 4 months, i could already be coming to the end of my hitch here. 2010 has been a good year, 2011 was a reality check. i wonder what's in store for 2012?

amongst my friends, my best friends are getting married - the last of them, jacky, would be getting married next year. ly is already expecting a child this october. it's great to see we're capable of being grown ups despite all of our foolishness when we were younger.

i would love to write more about the places that i've been to this year - yangon and paris. but i found neither the time nor the words to describe those places. i'll try but with no guarantees.

i am in desperate need to rediscover my drive. to have the passion and desire in my heart again. i've been drained emotionally this year. trying to rediscover myself and failing time and again to understand what is lacking in me. at times, i've lost sight of what i am chasing.

but all is not lost. it's not as bleak as it sounds. my pillars of hope and strength is as close to my heart as ever. writing this post is only the first step. this will be a new chapter and i hope it will be filled with as many adventures as my mind and soul could endure.

from krabi with love

2011-07-25T17:50:00.009+08:00

been meaning to write this for some time now but it just never came to be. not sure if it's the hectic effect of 2010 or just being plain lazy. a more fashionable reason - writer's block. pick any one of the excuses.

ever since i could remember, bringing my mum to a beach in another country has always been in my list of things to do. on jan 24th 2011, i could scratch that off my list as we headed off to krabi, thailand for a short vacation. it was a break that i, myself was really looking forward to - no internet, no mail, no phone. just my mum, my dad, jennie and myself by the beach spending quality time.

wasn't too sure about the accommodation as the booking was made just a couple of days before the trip and i admit no homework or research was done, just went along with suggestions on the internet. however, as we headed off to railay bay on one of the traditional long boats, i've got a good feeling it's the right choice. what else would you say when you're greeted by a sight like this?

the whole picture just spells out "vacation" in so many different languages doesn't it?

the first day was spent just checking out railay bay and strolling around the beach. it's not actually an island but the bay is inaccessible which explains why we had to take a boat ride to the bay.

the view on the left end of the beach

the view on the right end of the beach

cliffs like these surrounds the bay and prevents any vehicle access. these cliffs also made railay bay a rock climbers paradise as many of them came to conquer these cliffs. we are of course there to be lazy therefore no such ambitions were made. =)

railay bay was quite different to the other hotspots around in thailand. compared to pattaya or phuket or krabi, it is a rather simple and quiet place. very little hustle and bustle that you would come to expect of a tourist attraction. there is a short street that sells souvenirs and necessities, but other than that, it has almost a non-existent night life.

day 2 started pretty early for us as we’re off on an island hoping tour where we’re taken off to a beach, 2 islands and a snorkeling spot. the beach was actually just on the other side of the bay – nothing too exciting except for a cave temple filled with wood carvings.

can you guess what the carvings are?

the second stop is a series of island that is connected when the tide is low but gets split up when the tide rises.

picture moment before everyone gets wet… =)

one of the paths connecting the islands

modeling on the rocks

this would make a pretty good advert for having a good time, no?

on to the snorkeling spot – this I would have to admit was rather disappointing as there were not too many variety of fishes around us. we did however spent quite some time here, and I added another mission to my list of things to do – get my mum into the water!

swimming (floating) among fishes

the final stop was an island where lunch was provided. the beach on this island was just beautiful – white, soft sand and sparkling clear water. the weather was spot on as well during our short stop here – bright, blue skies and a comfortable breeze. perfect combination for a lazy afternoon.

back from the island hoping, jennie and i rented ourselves a canoe to explore the waters around the bay on our own. it all started pretty smooth – the weather was good, and the seas were calm. we got to a few caves, snapped a few pictures and we were getting comfortable on the canoe. so we’ve decided to try to make it to the other side of the bay.

we only just got out of the caves and that’s when things turned ugly real fast. within a minute, the wind picked up around us and the sea turned on us like a wild beast. it started pouring. we tried to make our way back to the beach but the winds were holding us back. and in a blink of an eye, we were underwater as our canoe capsized. at that moment, so many thoughts flashed through my mind – especially the cliff about 50 meters away with waves slamming into it. i know we need to get as far as we can from that cliff. but we were helpless in that weather – we turned the canoe around, climbed back in and tried to paddle our way towards the beach but made no progress. every meter gained, the waves pulled us back by 2. it was in all that as well, that we realize how useless the emergency whistle tied to our life jackets was. we tried to signal a passing boat to no avail. no one could see us, no one could hear us. after about 30 minutes, we gave up and decided to just wait out till the weather subsided as we were wasting our energy trying to go against that kind of weather. and that was when a fishermen boat turned up out of nowhere right next to us. help at last! i can’t describe how grateful we were for those men who towed us back to shore. we could have been stuck out there for hours if not for them, and no one would realize we’re out there. once we got back to shore and returned the canoe, i think we’ve both had enough of canoes for the near future.

our favorite hang–out spot – a small, cozy restaurant by the beach

at nights, we spent most of our time just strolling by the beach and window shopping in the few shops that was set out. there is this one restaurant by the beach that played good music and they even have straw mats laid out on the beach where we could sit to enjoy a hot cup of coffee. i think except for the first night, every other night was spent on the beach there before we retired to the room. it was good to be there, with no worries.

it’s been a while since i had such a relaxing vacation with my parents. as with any other vacations, when the time came for us to check out, i was reluctant. wasn’t really looking forward to getting back to reality. back to being so busy, so absorbed in work that many things are left behind and abandoned. i’ll write this down as a reminder that every once in a while, i’ll have to stop and cherish what i treasure most – the people around me.

leaving on a tractor – i lost my rayban in the canoeing incident, so we got the shirt instead… =)

goodbye railay bay, we had a blast!

Official Annoucement

2011-03-21T14:49:00.002+08:00

Guess...it is time for me to stop updating this blog. It has been bothering me for sometimes. Finally I am able to annouce it here. Mainly because for the past few weeks I was unable to log into blogger.

No one knows about the future. Neither do I. I don't know that will I update this blog in the future or not. But one thing for sure, for this period of time, I will stop updating it.

At this moment, don't expect anything from me anymore. Let's wait for Mr Nic to update it. =) Which....we shall sllllllowwly wait for it. LOL.

it's about time

2011-02-15T23:19:00.000+08:00

it's about time i start writing here again. it's been a little more than 3 months since my last post. and the one before that goes back all the way to july 25th 2010. i would blame it on my hectic and unforgiving schedule but i know that's no excuse. anyway, this is my first post of the year and fingers crossed, it will be the first of many more to come this year. the first post of the year would not be completed without a re-cap would it?

so. 2010. it's been filled with ups and downs. both professional and personal. i would want to go through month by month and re-live all the joys and sorrows through the year. but. it is 11 pm and i've gotta finalize a few things for work tomorrow.

i've always wanted to write but did not do so because i know i would not have enough time to pour everything out in words (like now). but because of that, tomorrow becomes next week. next week becomes next month. and when i realize it, another year has come and gone. so i hope this post would start the ball rolling and i would gather some momentum to keep writing.

coming up soon on this space - 2010 in a glance (pictures included)

it belongs to?

2011-01-27T15:15:00.003+08:00

We had some conversation going on about the future of this blog. Shall I keep this? Shall we maintain this? Or actually I should return this blog to Nic?

His latest blog is Nov last year. Abandon it for almost 4 months. However, I shouldn't complain much since I am not that active either.

What shall I update? My life? Not much different. The only thing is I am getting more and more adapt to the life at Shanghai. My circle of friends are expanding. No longer only colleagues now. After join the volleyball with some expatriates at SH, I make friends with them. Besides, the few Malaysian which I met over here are nice to hang out together as well. We looked for Malaysian food together, mock at China Chinese, complained about whey there are so many Singaporean restaurant but not Malaysian restaurant and etc.

Inner me? I am getting more stubborn and live my own way lately. Back to the same old me. Someone who don't bother about how other people think or look at me. I just finish a book by Haruki Murakami. When he received the Jerusalem Prize, he said: " Between a high, solid wall and an egg that break against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg."

Haruki Murakami is trying to say that each of us is an egg and we shall not be afraid to confront the high wall or the system. But in my definition, I would rather to define the wall as the society or the norm. Lady Gaga said "born this way". For me, it means we should live our life for our self. With no fear and no need to meet other's people perspective

Lately, many people around had passed away. My aunt, my colleague's father, grandfather, or grandmother. Shanghai has a big fire last year, it took away 53 life in one fire. The rate of divorce at SiChuan increase dramatically after the earthquake. Grey's Anatomy Season 6 last episode is a big mass murder in the Seattle Hospital. And Christina Yang decided to walk down the aisle after she survive from the incident. Everyone might leave this world by tomorrow or even the next second.

I saw many of my friend are getting married lately. Kam said that he got 60+ couples of friend who tie the knot in these 2 years. I wish that I can be a normal girl who able to feel peer pressure or age or whatever it is. With these pressures, it can makes a girl to settle down or start considering of getting marriage. But that is just not me. Since young, I always do the thing I want. I wear cloth or fashion that I want. Buy stuff that only I feel it is nice.

What I am trying to say here is, live the way you want. Life is short, too short for you to live yourself for other person. Why shall we achieve all the target other people want us to be? Why shall we do things that other people want us to do? Why shall I live the way other people want me to live as?

I used to live my own way of life for a very long period of time. But, I was lost once. I wish that I can find back my own path, walk on the rest of my destiny with my way. Feels like walking over the cloud. I can see the shine from the sun. =)

ps: By the way, I am leaving on the jetplane tomorrow. Going back to Malaysia for Chinese New Year holiday. Keep finger cross that shanghai won't be snow. And my plane can depart on time.

The Coming of 2011

2010-12-29T15:14:00.002+08:00

What I had done for the past one year?

Broke 2 wine glasses and 3 glasses.
Cut my long hair which has been with me for ages. Back to my boy-cut hair style.
Transfer to a country that I never been before. Start building up my circle of friends over here.

Did those things that meaningless to the world. Bring any values to myself? No idea.

Getting older and older. My thinking is growing faster than my age. My pessimism, ignorant, arrogant is pouring out from my body. Being myself again.

Is that consider the best thing I had done so far?
Finally, I am willing to face myself? Dare to look into the mirror and start pondering about the life I have instead of being the ostrich bury his head into sand.

I am still on the journey searching for the answer for life.
Where I want to be?
What am I going to do?
When I want to settle down?
Who I want to be with?

God, show me the light, guide me to the right path.
A new year. A better one.

Love

2010-12-20T14:47:00.003+08:00

Who is the one makes me cry? Makes me smile?
Who is the one can trigger my emotion effortlessly?
Who can make my eye got red within sentences?
It is still you.

I am someone who doesn’t show sadness, happiness in front of others.
But in front of you, my emotion is not in my hand but yours.
There is once I thought that no one can touch my heart anymore.
I was wrong until I met you.

After all this years, those memories are unforgettable and irreplaceable.
You will always be in my heart.

RIP 4E

2010-12-06T17:33:00.006+08:00

My mum has a twin. My fourth auntie, 4E. She passed away yesterday 8pm at Elizabeth Hospital Singapore. Cancer. Her body arrive at Penang just now. My grandma has been crying since yesterday and not eating since her daughter passed away. Ah ma is 90 years old now. I am worry, we are worry, everyone is worry about her. My eldest auntie keep on asking her not to cry, try to eat something. Still, she is not listening. She said, this is my daughter, what you want me to do? How can I eat? My eldest auntie just keep silent.

I have a lot of aunties. My mum has 6 sisters. All of them are very close to each other. Anyone of them traveling to any countries, they will always make sure buy 5 souvenirs for each other. For example, when my mum came to SH, she have to buy 5 different bags in different colors for all her sisters. If not, some of them will feel unhappy and not fair and start complaining. Why she has your souvenir but I don't have? bla bla bla...=) And they are no longer young little girl. My eldest auntie already has grand daughter still she will be mad if my mum go oversea/traveling without telling her. I feel kinda frustrating sometimes by listening to their story. All the gossiping among each other, jealousy, noisiness and etc. Trust me, when all the aunties are gather under one roof, you won't have a chance to speak at all cause they are simply too noisy.

On the other hand....they are sweet. Just sweet. Regardless all the gossiping, they are very close to each other. They are old still they tie strong to each other. My eldest aunt at Sg, 2nd aunt at Kedah, 4th aunt used to be at US, 5th auntie at KL, youngest aunt and my mum at Pg. They are far apart but the distant between them never stop them from loving each other. They always put in all the effort they can to keep each other update.

She is my mum's twin. Needless to say, she is the closest to my mum among all the sisters. And I knew that my 4E always treat my mum better compare to any other auntie. Years ago, my mum's best friend passed away. Whenever mention about that friend, my mum's eye just got watery even after years. And this time, this is her closest sister.

RIP, 4E.
___________________________________________________________________________

People go, people come.
This is a bit weird to put it in the same post however I just got the news today. My friend who married during the summer, his wife just got pregnant. Human life cycle.

Wave good bye to the old soul, welcome new life to this world.

Why Am I working in CN?

2010-11-12T14:08:00.003+08:00

Some people may said because of the money? But I can tell you frankly, if because of money, I would have stay at Norway. Why shall I come to China which is lower pay but higher expenses than Kuala Lumpur.

Some people may guess because of the experience? Sigh...I don't learn much from Chinese with the office currently is running slow in most projects. Again, I will learn much more if I transfer to permanent employee at Norway.

Then why? Since Norway got all the pros, why I choose Shanghai?

Receive a call from friend. His grandfather has passed away. He needs a flight ticket back to KL immediately. Help him to call up airlines, ask for seats available and everything. Luckily, SH expo is over, SH-KUL has many flights so shouldn't be a problem for him to return to KL as soon as possible.

Remember Kam's father accident. By the time Kam touched down on KL land, it was already at least 13 hours after he received the call from his family. That is only flight hour, prior condition is he must be able to get a ticket immediately. At certain countries which only have flights 3 days a week. You have to wait for the second day.

Flying hour from Norway to KL takes around 16 hours. 1.5 hours from KL-PG. If anything happen to my family, by the time I reach home, it is at least after 24 hours. Can you imagine the suffer, pain, worry, the ants biting and crawling in your heart feeling for that 24 hours? I can't stand it. I don't want.

That's why I choose to work at Shanghai which only takes 5 hours flight from here to KL. Does anyone think before that is the reason I work in CN?

disillusioned

2010-11-07T22:49:00.003+08:00

demotivated, dissattisfied, annoyed, boiling rage.

i wonder if this is all worth it?

all the negativity surrounding me is blinding. i'm forgetting the very reason i'm here.

i'm reaching for the white flag. i am a fighter, but this is not the right cause.

Lonely Sunday Mass

2010-10-31T14:43:00.004+08:00

Sunday morning, I walked agaisnt the strong wind to the church to attend my lonely Sunday mass. After mass, I crossed the road to have my breakfast at the cafe opposite the church. All by myself. Adults were chatting to each while kid were screaming and running around the small garden at the cafe.

In the church, I was watching the family who sit in front of me. Grandparent, parent, 2 little girls with a little boy. Wishing peace to each other. Suddenly, I recall the two little gal who used to sit in front of us at Fatimah Church, Brickfields. They were so small when I just went to the Sunday Mass but they were all grown up at my last visit to Fatimah's church.

The surrounding merriness brought back the past into my mind.

This place does not belong to me. Someone who is alone with a book shall not stay at this atmosphere.

Autumn breeze is blowing away all the memory. Back to life, back to my one person apartment by breathing the air of this lonely space.

Deeper Conversation - A song from Yuna

2010-10-27T13:25:00.013+08:00

Picture taken while crossing over to Puxi from Pudong with Ferry

A group of Uniten friend visited Shanghai lately. One of the friend's gf was someone that I heard story about her since ages ago. I knew her but never physically meet up with her. Yes maybe I had seen her twice but both times also never had the chance to talk to her. Since she is my friend's gf, every time when we met each other, I will catch up with my friend instead of her.

That day she wasn't willing to follow the group to the World Expo. My friend wasn't feel safe if left her stroll around SH alone. At the same time, I am no way to enter Expo anymore hence I volunteered myself to spend the day with her. Honest speaking, my heart had some hesitation before I suggested that. For people who know me well, I am a real weirdo. When I am in a good mood, I can be a very out spoken person even talk with anonymous person who sit right beside me. When I am not in the right mood, I can be real quiet. My lips will be totally zipped up. Besides, if I don't like a particular person for certain reason (or no reason at times), I won't bother to entertainment him/her. Nevertheless, everyone in that gang kept mock her as a super bad temper person.

Walked her back to the hotel, threw everything on the bed, relaxed in the room, went down stair to grab a cup of coffee, shopped a while, back to hotel, ate something for dinner...The most common activities for ladies however it will be so awkward if that two persons are only met up for the first time. But my worry in the beginning ended up totally unnecessary!

The whole day from afternoon until night, we chatted non-stop and amazingly we don't feel stranger to each other at all. We were talking about career, relationship, friendship until family. It has been very long I never talk to someone so much. Or shall I say listen to someone? Either way. Possibly throughout the 8 or 9 hours, I didn't share as much story as she is to me. Anyway I feel so comfortable with her, just sat there listen to her story, her life, her job, her relationship. Sharing bit of my opinion, my personal story and my life with her in between.

I do not know why we can talk so much. There isn't any effort needed to think of what to talk about. Naturally the topic was just flowing into our conversation continuously. Is it because she is someone who can talk a lot? Or because we just feel secure to share all the thing with each other? Or because coincidentally all our friends are overlap and somehow connected to each other in someway?

Sincerely wish that we can have more time to hang up together in near future. =) No matter what, it is a really a joyful moment to spend the day just like that with you, my friend - Steph.

Me? Writing politic?

2010-10-12T19:16:00.004+08:00

I was following up with the news regarding Liu XiaoBo receiving the Nobel Peace Prize lately.

From Nobelprize.org somehow I read some the history about Mahatma Gandhi who is never got the chance to receive Nobel Peace Prize. I was reading how Gandhi was being discriminated at South Africa as Indian, how he held protest against racist and religion issues. All of a sudden, I recall the situation of Malaysia. I know that the situation nowadays is not as bad as last time. The minority group who is being discriminate and didn't have the same right as the 'Prince Earth' are living with good life and wealth. But, is it because Chinese and Indian who have secure job and financial status doesn't have the right to have equal opportunity in this country? No more political issue to be continue and back to the thing which cross my mind.

I hope, there will be someone out there, in my country, who will against all the law, difficulty, jail, detention, lead the minority group to have the equal right as everyone else in this country in a Peaceful Way.

It sounds like a dream....because everyone is living in a comfortable life while no one will concern how important it is to be equally fair as a citizen, our human right, freedome of media mass, speech.

It sounds naive...because when the leader in jail, I doubt how many minority Malaysian will still be supportive for the leader. How many Malaysian will really support the leader for 10, 20 and even 30 years without asking anything in return, without knowing what is the outcome of the fight, without knowing when is the day when the victory might come.

It sounds impossible...because even there is one leader who is willing to bring us to that step, human nowadays will translate him/her as someone selfish, he/she must do it for his own good like financially benefit.

However, I still love this country with all my heart. So, allow me to keep my dream for my beloved country.

Tibet, China or XXX?

2010-09-12T12:42:00.006+08:00

Yak

This morning Nic told mention that this blog is dying again. As if this is my blog and I have the obligation to update. I am just tumpang to write here,ok? Not the main actor of this movie. Sorry for the grumpling. =P

I am just back from Tibet. Totally haven't ready to write anything yet since all the pictures haven't arrange nor edit. However, it is good that I wrote down my feeling while it is fresh in my mind. Many times I wrote the travel blog after too long the impact from that trip will be lighten. I don't know how long the feeling of Tibet will last in my heart. But there is a voice deep in my heart said that I wish it last forever?

My aunt asked me, is it an enjoyable trip? The answer is no. Enjoyable is not the right word but inspiring, fulfilling your heart, mind, eye will be the right adjectives. In this post, I will write more on my personal feeling. After this, I will post some photos to my facebook and make it a photoblog which mean each photo will full of word.

This is a trip which visited many many monasteries. Tibet Buddhism is really different with Buddhism that I used to know. There are so much different with Chinese Buddhism. I have a tour guide who grows up in a monastry and his uncle is a monk who teaches him all he Tibetan Buddhism since young. The thing I love about Buddhism is learning it is like listen to story. All the moral will come after the story. Listening to my tour guide throughout the tour while he is explaining Tibetan Buddhism is a enjoyable moments.

Before I go there, I have no idea why Tibetan is so determine and aggressive to fight for the independent from CN. I read some information from Lonely Planet before the trip. The shocking feeling fills me up. First and foremost, as a foreigner, I need to apply for special permit before go to Tibet. (some foreigners comment that travelling to Tibet is as difficult as travelling North Korea.) Secondly, if I am travelling outside of Lhasa, I need to hired a tour guide and driver who go along. Not forget to say only certified travel agency can do so. Foreigner are not allow to travel outside Lhasa without them. Thirdly, if you are going to the border like Mount everest base camp, there is another border permit which you have to apply. Fourth, all the itinerary detail, date, accommodation address has to submit before you travel. Certain hotel don't allow foreigners to overnight. In another words, foreigners only allow to stay in expensive hotel or some back packer dorm.

Walking inside Lhasa city, seeing army with machines gun at EVERY junction surprise me as well. Not allow to talk to all the monk since monk is not allow to talk to foreigner. No more pilgrim inside Lhasa. So those pictures you used to see that Tibetan fall on the floor, 3 steps 1 prostration are no longer a common scene. Monk and non are not allowed to meditate inside Lhasa too. It is a city which shine because of the religion. Without the practice of religion and so many restriction, it is like a tiger in a cage. Lifeless.

According to my tour guide, if I want to learn more about Tibetan Buddhism I only can go to Eastern part of Tibet where there is not so strict and tension. Jet Li got his inspiration and teaching from there too. Nevertheless, looking at Potala Palace does had a strange feeling in my heart. I d not know how to describe it. Not an extravagant building nor luxurious. But it hits me hard. Standing there high and still calms me down somehow.

Don't listen to all my bad impression towards Lhasa because anyting out from Lhasa, Tibet is a lovely place. Can I say I love it? Or at least I can conclude that I don't mind come to this place again in future.

人有悲欢离合

2010-08-10T00:37:00.003+08:00

有个朋友说，我的工作性质很好，我有足够的时间去了解一个地方的人和事。不像他的出差，一个地方只待个两三个星期，人的名字都还没搞清楚，就要换另一个地方了。以我的性格，结交朋友的确不是一个大问题。问题在于，在一个地方时间长了，就会和那边的人发生感情。每当离开一个地方时，说再见，总是心酸的。

人，有悲欢离合。

记得在挪威时，我和一个罗马尼亚的女同事感情特别好。离开时，她不和我说bye。因为她觉得我们是会再见面的，她只是和我说，see you again。

上海有一个同事离职了。这几个月总是和他们几个玩的很好。突然的离开，又要说再见了。来来往往，身边的人，聚了又散。怃然恍悟，自己在这个国度，只是个过渡客。总有一天，我会和这里的一切说再见。

我挥一挥衣袖，不带走一片云彩。

如果这只是驿站，那，哪片土地才是我的落叶归根之地？

6 years

2010-07-25T20:42:00.004+08:00

it's been 6 years since i started writing here. so much has changed and evolved since then. i'm a different person now and i think that is reflected in my writing style. this blog has a co-writer -cl- which actually kept this blog alive when i was struggling to keep up with the pace of my job and the balance of having a life outside of it.

make no mistake, keeping this blog going does take effort but i'm glad it's still here. there were times when i looked back and the memories triggered by reading the past is sometimes amazing. the emotions flooding back, the details of the moment.

anyway, just another milestone for this blog and i'll end it with a few pics taken from a beach along jln maulana, kb. that's where i go for a jog and vent all the pent up emotions (positive and negative alike) after a long day. it's on rare occasion these days for me to find the time to do that anymore - work's getting piled up and the fact that it gets dark early here does not help...

Airport

2010-07-25T18:54:00.009+08:00

Airport? I just don't like it. Although I'm waiting at the arrival gate and seeing everyone smiling, waving, kissing, hugging instead of sending people off at departure gate still the uneasy feeling is squeezing into my body through every single skin pore. The cool air in the airport, in this place is just not right.

I haven't been to many airports as other expatriate or frequent traveller. There are only a few airports that I am familiar with. No matter how well I know the airport, for example, KLIA, it is still giving me the annoying feeling. Yes, I knew it well. I know where is the WC, McD, shop, cafe, rest... Will that make me feel better? No.

Furthermore when we talk about the flight delay, rushing for transit, confiscate item by the custom, problem with the immigration officer, sending the loved one to another place, it is a sad place. (Luckily we are holding Malaysia passport which has no problem with visa when we are entering most of the countries in the world) I remember clearly that there is once when sending Nic to Brunei/Labuan/wherever, we saw an indian lady cried so badly while waving to her guy. The tears on her face, unforgettable. It is rare to see someone so emotional at KLIA! Malaysian are more conservative and usually will hide their emotion to themselves. You only can see people with red eye but not sobbing.

You may said that it is a happy place when you are waiting at the arrival gate. If we compare the amount of sending people off and picking up people, I believe, KLIA still is an unhappy airport. Because Malaysia is not a famous tourist country or working place. People who are going out always more than coming back.

Airport, the sorrow place.

ps: start this post while waiting for my mum at PVG

兵士

2010-07-15T17:32:00.003+08:00

一位好的兵士不选择战场
一位好的兵士为荣誉而冲锋
一位好的兵士会聆听他的心
一位好的兵士会适可而止

没有任何东西比信仰更神圣
没有任何东西比信任更有价值
没有任何东西比忠诚更重要
没有任何东西比背叛更可鄙

这个舞台，终极的竞技场
冲吧，冲向战役
站起来吧，站前去，被察觉
别退缩，每个机会都是最后一次

今天的决定，明天才感觉到
涟漪般的抉择，海浪般的后果
游荡在过去，将会停歇不进
疑惑着未来，也会停歇不进

wrote this last week i think, it's been a while. wanted to post it but something about it doesn't feel right. so instead, i wanted to translate it to another language just for fun. thought of using google translate but with past experiences, i didn't want this to turn out sounding stupid as well if i were to translate it into spanish or german. so instead, i asked cl to help me do it. here it is in mandarin. the original i'll post it in the comments of this post.

ps: does it sound better in mandarin or english?

Wedding

2010-07-07T00:15:00.002+08:00

Nic and I used to discuss about the wedding that happen around us.

We don't see any couple around us are steeping into the church because of love, pure love.

Or pure love only happen in fairy tale?

Wedding to your couple is no longer a 'big' thing, a once-in-a-lifetime ceremony.

Everyone got their own reason get marry. But, I have never hear anyone who said it is because of love.

Either because of pregnant, parent, getting old - age, or assigning job location (few of my teacher friend are getting marry because they don't wish to be assign to too far away from Penang)...

Can someone? Someone out there tell me that they want to walk down the aisle because of love?Because I love him? I want to spend the rest of my life with him?

Anyone?

Don't get me wrong. I know of course you love her/him too, if not you won't marry her/him. However, there are always so many reality issue that we need to bring into discussion when we talk about a marriage/wedding which make it no longer a wonderful experience. Budget for wedding, difficulty to book a hotel for wedding dinner, problem to reserve a good photographer or make up artist, accommodation and transportation for relative/friend to come down to the town...

Conclusion, no fairy tale. Wedding will never be a fun experience. =)

Beijing

2010-06-28T19:07:00.005+08:00

Tian An Men Square

Beijing – a capital with several thousand years of history. I am enjoying the city not only by the historical value but also the cultural and art. Over here, you can find a lot of youngster who are active in drama, creating their own handcraft product, selling their own music album, designing their own cloth, accessory. People are talking about art, fashion, politic, music. It is something that we lack at Malaysia especially among Chinese who only concern about how much we earn per month.

Forbidden city

This palace is attractive due to the history behind it. If you walk into the Forbidden City without the explanation and understand the story behind it, every building that left behind nowadays is just an empty body without soul. I got myself a narrator machine when I was there. Forbidden city just give me a uneasy feeling while I was listening to all the ancient story. A well that Empress was being push down and drowned, a hall to rest all the Emperor’s coffin before bury, a tree that an Emperor hang himself when his dynasty was ended. Nic used to say before that the blood during war is cannot blame on any party since it is a war, no right and wrong. However, when you are stepping on the floors which full of blood, recall all the fighting far behind few thousand years ago among human for the sake of fame, status, money…

Amidst all the building inside The Forbidden City, I love the Imperial garden the most!! No wonder lots of the HK’s drama, those Empresses like to go “Hao Fa Yun” to enjoy the flowers and garden. Not forget to mention about all the collections inside the palace those jade, craving and ceramic are really astonish.

Great Wall

Don’t ask me why but it doesn’t hit me hard. It doesn’t give me a strong impact compare to the Colosseum which is much smaller in scale. When I saw Colosseum for the firs time, I can imagine how spectacular it is when the building is standing still….everyone in the city is flocking into Colosseum for the Gladiator games. The image is so clear in my mind as if I was there to see it with my own eye. Somehow The Great Wall just didn’t able to give me such feeling. Is it because of the crowd? My friend, Theresa leave comment on my FB’s picture said that I should go to “Wild” Great Wall - Jinshanling instead of those tourist orientated section of The Great Wall. I might have stronger bond with this one of Seven Wonders of the World more from there. But, who knows? I heard from one of my ex-coll who visited Taj-Mahal said that Taj-Mahal looks magnificent from a distance too ( I saw his picture even with a normal DC it looks wow...). Wish that I am able to visit Machu Picchu one day then I shall see which one can connect to my heart more.

In the end, The Great Wall is still great of course. When you look at it, you just can’t find the end of the wall as if it is going to the end of the world. It is hard to imagine how much blood had been sacrificed to stack up this pile of bricks and stones. (why am I keep on mentioning about blood in this post?)

Yi He Yuan/Summer Palace

The over-rated Peking Duck – Quan Ju de. I know that many people advice it is not necessary to visit this particular restaurant although it is there since 1864 and famed among all Beijing’s delicacy. Nevertheless I feel that I only there for once in a life time then why not have the most classic restaurant? Ya ya ya…typical Asian tourist mentality. Hehehe…And it is pricey!! RM55 per single person meal with that little plate of roasted duck! One of the missed out in this trip is I don’t have the chance to drink tea at Lao She Tea House)

End the post with a picture. I am kinda lazy to blog nowadays because it is really troublesome to do so at China. So the sustainability of this blog have to depend back on it’s real owner in near future. =)

fight or flight?

2010-06-12T21:14:00.004+08:00

it's an overused phrase. with so many other versions to it. but it's one of those phrases which haunts me. over decisions made. over decisions about to be made. am i a fighter or am i a runner? wish i was a fighter but i've taken flight before.

there were moments when the challenge i faced before me was so frightening. so unnerving, so very intimidating that i did not even consider any other option. i turned and i ran.

i ran once when i was 15. once more when i was 17.

these moments made me feel small. i made up reasons. trying to convince the people around me that i wasn’t running away from the challenge. i just had something else that needed my attention. but i could not deceive myself. could not even convince those around me. i know they knew. and that just made it worse i think. and every time i ran, the journey back was tough. never easy to face the demons of the past.

throughout my childhood and teenage life, i tried doing what i wanted to do. what i thought was right. it’s not always unchartered territories. but i would like to think that i’ve had my share of adventures. not exactly the road less travelled by. not the common highway too. in the end, a few years from now, who will i see in the mirror?

i don't expect to see the giant i want to be.

i hope i don't see the dwarf i've been avoiding as well.

a view inside the big white mosque in abu dhabi - reminds me of elvish carvings. pic has nothing to do with the post though... =)

...

2010-06-05T23:16:00.000+08:00

choices. decisions.

work. life.

balance.

hopes. dreams.

Girl - Emotion Controlled Creature

2010-05-28T19:06:00.005+08:00

One of my close friend just started a relationship lately. Congratz my friend - Kitt. Glad that she manage to find a great guy.

She used to complain about the whole world to me. Everything in this world are poking her eyes and end each chatting sentence with a sigh or a angry tone. But now...thing had change.

The same issue which happen a month before and today. The exactly same incident and people but the way she describe is no longer the same anymore.

Today, when she is telling me that incident, she end each sentence with a 'haha' or smiley face.

Women....Girl....Emotion Controlled Creature. =)

Don't you think so?

Love is in the air

-on behalf of cliu-

suicide 2

2010-05-17T23:05:00.002+08:00

gliding through the air like an eagle
life flashes through, a smile on my face
the end is approaching, a hard tarmac
my heart skips a beat, i am afraid

first property

2010-05-14T01:15:00.000+08:00

recently made my first financial commitment by buying a unit in perdana residence 2. spa was signed, bank loan approved and construction's ongoing. i think it'll be a decent place to live in. brickfields is currently getting too hectic and too crowded real quick. it'll be ready in 3 years though. still a long time and everything could change by then. who knows huh? i might not even be residing in malaysia. but i think 3 years is a pretty decent period don't you think so? could even be time to consider starting a family of my own by then... don't think too far ahead, it's just a thought here...

show house of perdana residence 2

anyway, the fact that this purchase even materialize, it's all down to my parents - they sourced out the house, went to the launching of the property and had the down payment paid... i just did the follow up and everything was pretty much just going with the flow... and since it's an incomplete property at that time, sourcing for a bank loan wasn't too tricky as well. only 2 panel banks and once i talked to both of them, the choice was simple.

third row on the right, second unit from the right - home sweet home?

on behalf of cliu

2010-05-14T00:24:00.001+08:00

要怎么另两个曾经想恋的人去承认逝去的爱情？

要怎么另两个曾经爱过彼此的人去接受以后的日子我们应该只是朋友？

没有大吵大闹，没有第三者，那要怎么结束一段恋情？

要怎么走出一段漂亮的回忆？

曾经憧憬的未来，来不及走向它。

曾经完美的过去，为什么不延续地走向我？

back in kl

2010-04-16T17:36:00.002+08:00

been back in kl since last weekend. but have been ever so busy since. haven't had much time for myself or to meet up with old friends. when was the last time i've not been busy? i can't remember. activity's supposed to have slowed down. yet, i've only had a weeks worth of vacation during cny since last july.

lately, i've been having a weird feeling. whenever i receive a job from someone and i delay them, i would feel as though i've put off the job forever. but once it's done and i checked how long it has been since i received the mail/call for the job, it'll only be a couple of days. never more than a week. not only that. events that happened last week feels like it's occurred last month. i'm losing perception of time. i'm losing sense of what's happening around me too.

cl told me a few days ago that i've got my priorities wrong. i've sacrificed myself and those around me in my focus on my job. in wanting to get things done, i've pushed aside everything else. is that true? i don't know. i don't necessarily agree to it, but if she could say that and my parents could say that, it has to mean something. right? i guess in my shortcomings as a person, inadvertently is my strength as an employee. i hope it is or all this would be so worthless.

anyway, just this one project. once this project in the ground, i will re-evaluate my position in the company. and where i stand on achieving my goals - personal and professional. perhaps then i'll need to search for a new challenge. a new environment. till then, my blood is blue i guess.

a brand new day

2010-04-02T00:03:00.002+08:00

woke up to a cloudy day. wonders if those clouds are a reflection of my mood this morning. not too excited about getting up from bed. a hot shower - yes, that would clear up the fog surrounding my mind. and a cup of hot coffee, that usually wakes me up and get's me in gear for the day. but why am i still struggling this morning? it'll clear up by lunch, i'm sure of that. work's pilling up by the second. i just need to divide and conquer. an age old war tactic that works well almost everywhere and in every situation. so easily distracted i find myself. losing focus every minute. need to shake this off. need to improve the situation.

had a relaxing lunch - a good dependable half time pep talk. had a fairly smooth meeting. things seem to be picking up. did nothing much after the meeting but generally felt better. no idea why. list of things to do is still a mile long. and more than half of it was due yesterday. decided to close up early in the office. well early is early for me.

after that, a good dinner. always a good way to end the day. after dinner, a good bottle of wine and a good conversation. enjoyable company. it is much appreciated, especially after such a long week. and now, in front of my laptop, looking at a spreadsheet that i've been staring at for the past couple of days. i think i'm going to shut down.

tomorrow will be a brand new day. i don't know if it'll be better or worse. but it'll be a brand new day.

5 questions

2010-03-28T13:23:00.004+08:00

1) is there anything or anyone in this world that you would die for?

2) what is the one principal that you've always believed in and still hold on to?

3) would you look back at a life filled with regret or laughter?

4) have you ever taken the fall for someone or something you've believed in?

5) when you look in the mirror, what do you see?

think hard before answering. write it down. come back in 6 months. will your answers still be the same?

medical...

2010-03-19T08:55:00.002+08:00

in the waiting room of colombia asia, miri at the moment waiting for my scheduled medical check up.
you know what this means? i've been working for almost 3 years now that my previous medical is expiring.
i know i've always said this but it still never ceases to amaze me how time flies... 3 years...
and i can still recall the interview sessions with slb like it was yesterday...
anyway, i always get nervous with medicals - i hate needles!
i dun mind everything else really but needles?

ps: posting from my blackberry so the format might seem different...

how is everyone?

2010-03-07T12:43:00.002+08:00

lately been finding it tough to write anything that reflects my true emotions. distractions of my everyday life. the dark reflections of the voices in my head. excuses or not, i don't even try to write these feelings down. afraid of what i'll find out. afraid of hurting ppl around me. they say life's a cycle - one moment you're up, another you're down. if that's true, with the depth of my depression at the moment, i think life owes me a lifetime of ecstatic joy... if only that's ever true.

probably it's not as bad as it seems or feels. maybe it's just me putting on a negative spin on everything in life. just to be a little bit more dramatic. just to create that little bit more suspense in my otherwise routine life. just maybe...

anyway, no point confusing you my avid readers any longer. and it's worthless trying to get to the bottom of my turbulent emotions as it'll just go on and on and on - endlessly. instead, let's talk about something else. something with more substance to it.

i hear somewhere that earth hour is coming up again. last year, i've supported it. but now, i feel it's another one of those cliché "feel good" events that floods the world these days. just because you stop using electricity for an hour, does not make you an environmentalist. wat good does an hour do against all the other pollutions still going on in every part of the world? some would say it's better than nothing. but that's exactly the mentality that brought us to where we are today. was crossing the border of miri/brunei last week and saw several spots of bush fire (due to the searing heat more than anything else) and suddenly feels as though the world is failing under a huge burden. and unfortunately, we're a massive portion of that burden.

there are a couple more things i want to write about but this post has turned out to be so gloomy, i dun wanna continue writing here. i'll save those for a lighter post.

ps: this blog will be without the presence of cl for a while. she's in shanghai, china for now on a new job assignment and as we all know, china's blocked out numerous sites on the www and unfortunately blogspot is one of them. ridiculous, i know, but i don't want to elaborate more or they'll probably locate my house and nuke me out of the face of the earth... =P

silent emotions

2010-01-27T02:43:00.000+08:00

shakespeare i am not
mozart, far from it
words do not flow with ease
rhyme and rhythm eludes me

patience i plead you
listen to what i have to say
listen to what i have not said
listen with your heart

turbulence of emotion builds
inside me with no relief
searching, seeking, feeling
tearing me apart from within

look into my eyes, my soul
see and understand, i pray
it's simple and innocent
i love you, i love you

i have not written any sort of article in a very long while. i guess you can judge it be the ever dropping frequency of post being published here. however, that does not mean that i have lost the love/ passion to write, just probably the emotion and the means to express it. been very robotic lately. everything comes with a yes or no decision and nothing excites me too much these days. anyway, since it is the start of a new year, thought i'd give myself a little nudge to start writing again and see where it goes from here...

experimental pics

2010-01-24T19:13:00.007+08:00

the last time i was back in kl, i actually made the effort to go take some quick shots that i've always wanted to try ever since i got my d60. and since lately words are hard to come by for me to write anything at all in this blog, i'll just put up a couple of the pics i took from that night... btw, these pics were taken on the 30th of Dec 2009...

these pics were taken of a pedestrian bridge close to my home in brickfields. used to spend a lot of time there when i was a kid. still remember the walks with mum and we'll just stand on the bridge coz i was always amazed at how the bridge seems to be moving when i look down at the river (too young to understand relative motion) - the pedestrian bridge crosses the klang river and the federal highway... speaking of those walks, i dun remember much in detail but the memory gives me a warm, cozy feeling always...

and on the way back home, cl says one of the hardest objects to capture with a normal camera is the moon. so i gave it my best shot. what do you think?

2009 annual review

2010-01-19T01:15:00.001+08:00

i know everyone's been saying this title is way too formal, but what the heck - i like it... =)

anyway, i've promised myself to write this down. not for anyone else but for my own record. it's amazing how much we all change over the years and this would be a good reminder in years to come how 2009 turned out to be for me.

january 2009

started out the year with a splendid break up north in thailand. spent a couple of weeks there in bangkok and pattaya and had a great time with cl - perfect weather, rich culture, great food, nice ppl, pretty girls and pretty "girls"... =)

february 2009

zh's wedding! made it a point not to miss this one after missing out on ang's big day. and no regret as it was a beautiful ceremony. never imagined would see the day zh walks down the aisle... hahaha...

spent the longest time onboard the ss3. would also like to think of it as one of the more successful campaign ss3 had in south furious. had my ups and downs on this campaign. had a stop card written against me by the csr for not going to sleep!

march 2009

back on land from ss3

april 2009

spent some time in miri. back in kl for a weekend for the us visa application. back to labuan and managed to squeeze in 2 ves jobs in kikeh on the west setia and ocean rover.

may 2009

furthest trip i've ever made to this day. kl - doha - houston - tulsa. the start of my second/ leader school for slb.

june 2009

still in tulsa for the slb school. definitely the best time i've had since i joined slb. great class, great time. 11 ppl from 9 different countries - malaysia (1), colombia (2), brazil (1), usa (2), china (1), russia (1), hungary (1), france (1), cameroon (1). unfortunately did not do as well as i did in the first school. ended up second in class.

july 2009

after 6 months being away from cl, spent a couple of weeks with her in san fransisco, vegas and disneyland california. most memorable vacation i've had with cl (and most expensive!!!)... =)

at the end of the month, went back to labuan for a day before heading onto brunei on sta...

august 2009

was on bima for my first ohgp job. turned out to be a really "interesting" job. a lot of question mark still remains about what actually happened.

september 2009

second ohgp job. operational nightmare. enough said.

october 2009

third ohgp job. almost lost a well. recovered. and recovered well. for the first time since i joined slb, i felt that i've been pushed (physically and mentally) so far that i started to question myself. remember waking up and staying in bed thinking - what the heck am i doing here?!

november 2009

was registered for an ohgp class in kl. was truly glad for the chance to be back home. and this was the start of 2 hectic months of travelling between kl, miri and brunei.

december 2009

was in brunei for a week for a yard test. was in miri a couple of days. but most memorable moment? being able to spend xmas eve at home. first time after joining slb.

ps: i actually wrote this down in the first week. thought of adding in pics of all the events - especially our trips to bangkok/ pattaya and san fransisco/ vegas/ disneyland. but that delayed this post for 2 weeks. so here it goes. i don't wanna post this entry in the second month of the year waiting for the pics... =/

happy new year everyone!!!

可爱女人

2010-01-07T04:20:00.002+08:00

时不时会听到男人要一个独立的女人。

一个会给他们自由，时间的女人。一个有自己节目的女人。不是那种男人没在身边就会死的女人或者那种一点点小事就喊着她的男人过来的女人。

可是，男的。。。你们知不知道，我们喊你们的时候，你们是应该觉得幸福的。

当屋子，车子，链子都是我自己买的时候，我还要你来干嘛?

当灯泡，水喉，电脑都是我自己解决时，我还要男的吗？

男人们，当你们说要一个独立女人时，想想再说吧！

所以嘛，还是小女人可爱。

The end of 2009 - The start of 2010

2009-12-30T15:53:00.000+08:00

It is going to be a brand new year again. I remember that I wrote a summary of year 2008 before the new year of 2009. And now, it is time to write another piece to say good bye to 2009.

Obviously, I am back from Norway in the middle of year 2009. Last year, I was asking that when will I stop working abroad. Apparently, it is not going to end so soon. Since I am going to work at Shanghai after Chinese New Year. Another year of travelling, another year of unknown, another year that lead to more question mark.

I am standing at the age of mid 20. A girl who start using anti-aging cosmetic product instead of oil-free. Nic said another 5 years, it is going to be anti-wrinkle but not anti-aging anymore. (wtf $%*(!&@%) Everyone scare to get old. Age is always a secret for women (girl?women?girl? women? which word to use?) especially when 18 years old sounds so far from you. Lately, I am reading a book where the main character is living his life from old back to young again, just like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Suddenly, I feel, actually it is good to get old too. At the age of 18, I am daring, do whatever without concerning about how other people look/think at me. A year of problem-free and only laughter in life. At the same time, because of my ignorance, my inconsiderate, I hurt many people without notice. Now, as I am getting older, the way I look at things are getting less persistent. I accept people's comment, I understand what other people are trying to tell me.

Looking back to the time after I am back from Norway, I spent a lot of time with my friends. Kitt Yin, Ray, Enrico, Sheau Miin, Kim Loong, Sze Ying...It is a year of joy and sorrow. The leaving of Sze Ying's father, Nic's great grand-mum... There is a saying: time can heals everything. Wish that all their pain of losing their loved one in life will be heal by time. Joyful part, the register of marriage for Ming Jie, wedding of Joo Ann, engagement of Choy Yee...wish these lovely couples will bring new life into this world.

Relationship? Kam commented on Choy Yee's engagement said that according to stat human tend to get marry between 25-27. I am 25 this year and it seems like I am going to be the one who fall out of this range or maybe at the border of it. So, in conclusion for relationship, stagnant.

Travelling side, I had been to US, German, Sweden, Thailand, HK in year 2009. For year 2010, I plan to visit as many place in China as possible since I am going to be working there. Beijing...Yun Nan...Harbin...tibet...and Taiwan,perhaps?

What else I plan to do in this new coming year? er...I wish to learn more, read more. (And, also losing more body weight! hahaha...) I wish to have less tear more laughter. I wish to have less thing to ponder more peace in my brain.

Bye bye 2009, welcome 2010.

merry christmas!!!

2009-12-27T01:46:00.003+08:00

xmas eve 2007 - flying back from oman. xmas eve 2008 - sailing back from ss3. xmas eve 2009?

i'm actually back home in kl! yes, i've been lucky this year... =)

been fortunate enough to actually have an assignment here in kl. temporary but at least had the opportunity to taste what life would be like if i were to be working here for good. and honestly, as long as i'm with slb, i would prefer to be in kl just on vacation. not for work. it takes the joy out from being at home when you still have to worry about unfinished business in the office... =/

but that's a story for another post. or maybe that's a story for me, myself.

christmas this year was good. quality time spent with parents and cl. nothing more i could ask for. and of course - great presents too! hahaha...

and is it that time of the year already to look back on how the year turned out to be and to make more resolutions to be broken? time really does fly doesn't it? and it seems to be gaining speed as the year goes by... anyway, i'll save that post for another time as well. hopefully, i'll be able to slot in a post between now and new year's eve. it'll be interesting to look back and discover for myself how this year turned out to be. and to look forward to the next as well...

for now, i just wanna wish the world out there to have a merry, merry christmas and to just take a short time out from whatever you're doing to appreciate everything you have around you right now. peace.

Spider Web oh spider web...

2009-12-22T15:22:00.002+08:00

Actually I am suppose to post a blog regarding my HK trip, a few months ago trip, however, I really not into the mood to do that lately.

Many things happen lately...Nic's back, Xmas shopping, project is rushing, and some decision on my job...Although this is not my blog but I feel bad to let it fill up with spider web. So I am trying to clear it off by updating a mini post today.

And not to forget to wish everyone : -

Merry Xmas and happy new year~!

from bima with love...

2009-11-05T21:58:00.002+08:00

when you get a couple hours of sleep every night for a week, when you've spent hours in preparation but everything goes south on the job, when you've just been to bed for an hour after 48 and someone wakes you up to start swinging the hammer, you start to wonder - why the heck didn't i just take a normal 8 to 5 job?!

it's been a while since i've posted any offshore pics, so here you go - ever since i got to brunei at the end of july, i've been to 3 ohgp jobs on the bima... and this is how she looks like... btw, she's the first jack-up rig i've been on...

If...Then

2009-10-15T14:52:00.004+08:00

If there is no solution for the problem, then face it with a smile.
If there is what you have to do, then just do it.

If you can't change the world, then you live with it.
If you can change the world, then...Change It!

Many people always like to use "there is nothing I can do" for the problem they faced in life. Usually I don't really agree with that. You may say because all the while I am too lucky in my life. I never face any big problem which is so called "unsolvable".(touch wood ya!!) Partly, that is correct, another reason is the way I handle problem.

There must be a solution for everything. It is depend on us whether we want to accept the solution or not. Most of the time, we are running away from the reality and want it to go the way we "wish" it to be. This is a true world, things won't always go along with the way you want it to be. I believe deep inside everyone's heart, we already knew the solution for most of the problem. We know what to do and what option left for us to choose. The difficult part is whether can you accept the cruel solution or not.

太执着于爱情（放不开逝去的爱情），或者，太执着于听天由命。（不主动争取爱情）
太执着从来不是一件好事。

Man Vs Woman

2009-10-08T10:36:00.008+08:00

Last night I had a long chat with 3 friends during dinner. On the dining table, 2 man 2 woman are sitting opposite.

Man

Girls don't argue with their brain. It is useless to be rational with them when arguing. They don't listen nor accept what we say at all. No point to tell/analyse to them what is right or wrong. In the end of the argument, they pop out : "I don't care! I want it that way". See? girl...

Woman

We don't want to listen to so much of theory. We just want you to pamper us, sayang us, support us whatever we do. As long as you say : I love you. Who care about what is right what is wrong?You are not my parent or teacher but you are my bf!

Man

Why I cannot have the freedom to go out drink with my friend? My ex gf for dinner? My time to play computer game?

Woman

Why you can have so much of time to go out with your friends instead going out with me? Why must have dinner with your ex? Why not someone else? Why spend time on playing something which is not going to bring you any good?

Man

Why I have to do whatever she like? Follow her to shop, saloon, manicure, pedicure, facial...But whenever I ask her to follow me to comic shop, computer game shop, electronic gadgets, No No No. NEVER~!

Woman

Because I want to spend more time with you, that's why I let you follow me. If not, why don't I ask other guy to go with me? I need your opinion on my outlook. Why I spend so much effort, time and money on my outlook? It is for you, to please you, to make you proud of me, to let you aware of me, for you to praise me.

Man

I don't want to get marry so soon doesn't mean I don't love you. We are still young, I hope to have more time on my career. I wish to give you a better tomorrow. I can't marry with you now because I am incapable to provide you anything with my current financial situation. Still, I love you.

Woman

Why you still don't want to purchase a house? Why you still don't want to register of marriage with me? When you want to get marry? Do you have any future plan for both of us? Why you don't want to have any commitment with me? DO YOU STILL LOVE ME?

Man

I don't want to talk at the moment. Give me a second. I need some time to be alone.

Woman

Why you cannot tell me? Why don't you tell me NOW? Share with me la! I am your gf no matter what happen you can always tell me.

***

All the thing on the above, it happens so much around my friends. Couple A - Z. I listen to both sides of story. Don't ask me who is wrong or right. I don't know. Man and woman brain are used to be different. It is normal to think differently.

Which couple won't argue? Everyone also argue. Whether the relationship can go on or not is depend on how much you still love each other. This post is to let everyone out there to know that every couple also will face the same problem. Even you change another gf/bf the same thing will still be there. Solve it instead of run away from it la...

identity

2009-09-09T22:43:00.002+08:00

this is partly in response to cl's post, partly in response to something we've talked about and partly about something that's been going through my mind for a while now...

we are who we are. no one can change that. and we should not change ourselves to conform to the society around us. does it matter if we fall out of the norm of society? why should it?

there's no need, no reason to explain ourselves to everyone, to anyone. what we do, our actions each day should be enough to define us. to paint a portrait of our character, our inner self. if ppl around us do not understand why we did what we do, it's a simple fact that they do not know us well enough. should we be discouraged by that? if you are, why?

are we so desperate to be loved? to be accepted?

i'm trying desperately at the moment to accept who i am. to be who i am. to break free. to stop fighting against the tide of expectations of who i think i'm supposed to be. to live my life without second thoughts. to give 100% every day, every hour, every minute, every second...

i dun believe that i would be able to look back at all my decisions/ actions without regret. so why look back at all? what's done is done. c'est la vie...

ps: i had something totally different in mind when i started writting this. but once i started, i got carried away. guess i had some pent up emotions inside. thought of deleting it but then decided that my blog needs more emotion from me. it's been a while since i wrote anything anyway.

Do you know me?

2009-08-24T12:34:00.003+08:00

Sometimes you thought that he knows you well, you are expecting him to understand you, however, the reality is not. A friend who grows up with you since standard 1, a husband who sleeps beside you for 20 years, a sibling who stay under the same roof since you are born may not the one who understand you too.

Everyone in this world is an individual body. Don't ever think that he knows you well so you do not need to express your feeling to him. Neither think that you knows him well so that you can make the decision on behalf of him.

You might know what he like and dislike today but that doesn't mean you know for tomorrow. Earth rotates, clock ticks, human changes.

Love means no matter how he changes, to good or to bad, you still tolerate, communicate and love him as you do as yesterday.

August - Merdeka Month

2009-08-18T13:20:00.000+08:00

I met up with some old friends the other day. Both of them are studying overseas for some years. They said that they only mingle with foreigner when they are oversea with loud and proud. I understand that some people who spent all time with Malaysian when they are oversea will had a tough life when they are away from home. I know that the way to survive at a foreign land is to live their life. If you don't enjoy your life there and keep on thinking about your life back at home, you will have a miserable time when you are abroad.

At Norway, it is not your choice whether you want to hang out with Malaysian or not because for you to meet a Malaysian also will be an issue. Due to Malaysian is a rare species there, whenever I met a Malaysian oversea or heard someone who speak Malaysian's English, I would feel so so happy. The language with mixture of Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese, everything "rojak" together, a type of conversation that makes me feel home. I speak ok English. American said I speak good English (although I can't pronounce Florida right after people praise about my English). Still, when Nic and I met Edgard and Ken at San Francisco or I met Yeen Chow and his friends at Berlin, the moment when everyone can speak Malaysian's style of English, we are so enjoy our self with it. Everyone feels connected somehow in a way.

I enjoy European food. Norwegian raw fish, Italian's simple salad or spaghetti, Spanish's Paella, German's pork cuisine, Japaneses sushi, Indian's curry.... However, how can those food compare to my Penang's Wan Tan noodle, Fried Kueh Teow, Hainan Chicken Rice?

Yes, I enjoy all the low price with good quality wine or beer oversea. Bud which is so cheap at US, France or Italy wine which is cheap at Norway compare to Malaysia. However, I can't forget my teh tarik at Mamak stall. Starbucks? Yes, it is good. Espresso? good as well. Still....I loves Penang's kopi O.

Travelling? I like different culture, architecture, religious site. But whenever the plane is landing at KLIA, once you heard the air stewardess said, Selamat Datang or Welcome Home...the feeling in the heart...as if my heart had really touch the ground at the same time with the plane too. Feeling home...

Sometimes I will think, if without the one and half year stint at Norway, will I still love Malaysia as I sound today?

I love this land. I do...really really do. No matter how much you don't like me for being here with asking me to go back to the mainland china or my ancestor is not from this land, how bad/dangerous/dirty/uncivilised/corrupted you are, how other people criticize you, I am still very very happy to be a Malaysian.

san fransisco...

2009-08-04T13:21:00.032+08:00

i was debating between a post where i pour out my feelings in the usual negative light that i shed on everything or if i should write about my trip in san fransisco with cl where a little more positivity is sure to brighten up this blog... guess which one did i go for?

so... i've decided to split our 2 weeks in the usa to 3 posts - san fransisco, las vegas and disneyland... and these posts are going to be filled with more pics than words... they do say that a picture is worth a thousand words didn't they?

let's begin with san fransisco - the city where everyone is gay, erm, i mean happy... =P

so, we were staying a few blocks away from union square, where we spent a couple of days, just strolling around and shopping... i'm sure someone who loves shopping would be able to describe this place better than me, but for me, it's a nice place to hang out...

btw, i should mention that we were there during mid summer and it's still only 10-12 degrees?!

san fransisco spreading the love... honestly, we do need more of those these days...

union square - shopper's paradise. you've got macy's, saxs fifth avenue, prada, tiffany, victoria's secret, coach, burberry, hugo boss... i could go on and on and on, but you get the idea. and that monument is a dedication to a battle won during the spanish american war.

just another day in san fransisco - cable cars and fire engines all day long. no idea why, but they (fire engines) just keep buzzing around through town all the time. so frequent that they've actually arranged for tourists to get onto one of those fire engines for a ride. and no, i've not seen any buildings on fire the whole time we were there...

powell and hyde - took this on the way to lombard street... notice alcatraz in the background... cool huh? we took the cable car ride only a couple of times and it's interesting... kinda like the mini bus experience that we used to have in KL, only much slower and less dangerous... hehehe...

lombard street - the world's most 'crookedest' road (that's how they promote it!). i wonder if the road was naturally made this way and it turned out to be a tourist attraction or if it was indeed built with that purpose already in mind. either way, this has got to be the most photographed and hyped up street in the world.

and here i am, brought to lombard street by all it's fame of being crooked. gotta admit the street does stand out and looks eccentric enough to earn all it's popularity. and i really liked the houses along this street.

anyway... we've spent quite a long time in san fransisco, almost a week there. and truthfully, we didn't get enough of san fransisco. me falling sick did not help too. yes, i was sick in san fransisco. no, it's not h1n1. but whenever we got the chance, we were out and mostly we walked to wherever we wanna go. the weather's not too bad and besides, the city is beautiful.

the longest and most strenuous walk (aided by the sinusoidal streets) throughout the week was without a shadow of doubt the day we decided to visit coit tower...

coit tower is situated at the top of telegraph hill and overlooks the whole of san fransisco...

i just like this photo enough to include it in here... and below are the views of san fransisco from coit tower...

the lesser (only in fame) of the 2 bridges - the bay bridge...

fisherman's wharf and the piers of san fransisco...

the golden date bridge and you can see lombard street if you squint and look real close...

and being in san fransisco, i definitely can't ignore the chance to see alcatraz aka the rock in person... it is all it promises to be - a prison... =)

well, it was an interesting tour of the island actually. upon reaching the island, it's as beautiful as any other islands. birds are singing (in the case of the sea gulls, they're screaming rather than singing), fresh air, lovely scenery... and the fact that surprised me was that most of the families of the prison guards actually lived on the island. so it's pretty normal, until you stepped through the gates of the prison. that's when heaven turns to hell.

this view is probably the worst torment to the prisoners of the rock. it reminds them of what they've lost in the instant where they've lost judgement and made the wrong move...

cl has already posted a pic of us with this background. but here's a pic of me and the lighthouse made famous by nicholas cage and sean connery in the rock...

being the state with the most chinese american, the china town in san fransisco is a must see for sure... we've had breakfast there and trust me... it feels as if we've walked out of san fransisco and into hong kong!

ghirardelli - an italian who came all the way to san fransisco to make chocolate during the gold rush period. but i guess it's not our kinda chocolate as we walked into the largest chocolate store i've seen and walked out empty handed. but wat we did find on the way out were 2 malaysians! wat are the odds huh? they just recognized our english and approached us! so we ended up having some drinks with them and hung out with them a couple of nights... it's always nice to meet fellow malaysians half the world away from malaysia... =P

this picture was taken at the fisherman's wharf. fresh seafood, street performers, local artists... a good place to chill out... and from here, we actually rented a couple of bikes and rode them to the golden gate bridge...

a post about our trip to san fransisco would not be complete without a picture of the golden gate bridge would it? the pic above was taken while we were actually driving through the bridge... and the one below is from our cycling adventure...

the length of this post is getting a little bit out of hand... anyway, before bringing it to an end, a post of our vacation would not be complete without a pic of us right?

it's been a good week spent at san fransisco. there's so much more to tell but i guess i won't be able to write it all here. meeting the 2 malaysians was a pleasant surprise and we had some good times. went to a couple of bars, tasted a few local beers, went to a famous italian seafood place - soto mare, visited the castro district (google it if you have no idea wat's so special about this place), had some wine in castro - with the awkward experience of 2 guys in nothing but g-strings sitting at the bar, drinking coke... it's definitely been a colourful experience there... =)

so i'll leave you all with this pic of cl and myself and the golden gate bridge... till i come back again with las vegas and disneyland...

Travel as Hobby?

2009-07-31T10:51:00.004+08:00

I don't know since when maybe since Air Asia start their business? Malaysian like to put "travel" as their hobby. I dare to say 6 out of 10 of my friend's Facebook stated so. It really makes me wonder, is it travel is your hobby? They put it as hobby because they just simply like to travel? Or do they like it so much until it is a "hobby"?

Can they travel as frequent as Nicole until she stay in hotel at different places without renting a room at a fix location? Can they really travel yearly no matter how tight is their schedule or how poor is their economy financial on that year? Can they overnight at the airport bench to wait for the transit? Can they sleep at the railway station to wait for the earliest train to depart from there?

Or am I the one who sound too harsh to them? Maybe all my question on the above only apply to those back packers. But not towards people who are rich to travel. If you are rich then all my questions will not be a question.

I like to travel. ( errr...actually not that much...but I like too) I am always interested to see other people culture, festival, religion sites and scenery. However, if you ask me, whether travel is my hobby or not? Then it is definitely a NO from me. I "like" it but not until the stage that it is my hobby.

reclaiming my space... =P

2009-07-25T21:28:00.004+08:00

this is still my blog! muahahaha!!!

26 march 2009 - that's like 4 months ago?!

it certainly does not feel like i've stopped blogging for 4 months, does it? this must definitely be the longest break i've ever taken from blogging... time flies... no, it warps at the speed of light these days it seems...

let's see wat happened in that 4 months...

16 - 18 april : offshore @ ocean rover

19 - 21 april : offshore @ west setia

4 may - 26 june : slb school @ usa

28 june - 12 july : vacation @ usa

23 july to current : on loan @ brunei

as you can see, i've been pretty busy... keep in mind that i've left out all of the preparations from my schedule... *ehem* i know it sounds like an excuse but it's not! anyway, i've had some other issues as well as to why i have not been blogging... it's not been resolved but i guess i've figured out a way around it...

well... let's see... the 2 hitch offshore before going to the usa went pretty smooth and i have nothing much to say about that...

the slb school however... that 2 months was probably the best time i've had in slb thus far! despite all the exams, quizzes, assignments, projects, presentations, late nights and etc, we've got a good bunch of ppl in class and it made the whole 2 months extremely enjoyable...

and then to top it all off, i had a 2 week break in the usa where i saw san fransisco, las vegas and disneyland with cl! never imagined i'll be in those places and to be there in 1 trip, that felt like a dream...

and now that i'm back to work again, from a certain perspective, i've been fortunate to be on loan here to brunei for a gravel pack job. never seen one before so this is going to be a learning experience and hopefully a valuable exposure as well...

as you can see, this is just a summary of the past 4 months from my side... i will certainly blog more about my episodes in the usa (school and vacation)... was going through the pics to post but it's definitely going to take time filtering those pics - there are thousands (ok, maybe just hundreds) of them! but i promise i'll post them up soon... =)

oh yeah, this is probably a little bit too late, but to the king of pop - rest in peace...

Short Post from Penang

2009-07-25T00:19:00.002+08:00

Initially, this blog belongs to Mr Nic.
Previously, this blog belong to Mr Nic and I.
Now, this blog belongs to me me me~!

If any new reader who open this blog, they must be thinking I am the only writer for Unfinished_Article. I never intend to take over the blog. He starts to complain about I am blogging too fast. Although the problem is not I am writing too fast instead he is the one who are writing too slow!

I had try my best to ask him to post something even something real short I believe it will be able to satisfy friends of him who really wish to know how is he doing recently.

Mr Nic is currently at Brunei and going to offshore soon. So I believe he got no time to blog again, as usual. Guys, just forget about him, lets wait for my post more about our US trip ya~!

Short post from California, US

2009-07-10T05:12:00.000+08:00

Now I am blogging from a hostel opposite Hilton San Francisco.

San Francisco is really a big city. A typical US big city that we always see in the movie. Sky scraper every where, the grid system is so good until feel bored of the system, people are walking fast everywhere. Every corner of the street will have at least 1 Starbucks coffee, 1 liquor store, and some beggars who ask donation for burger.

Before I come, I already have the mental preparation of US food portion are always huge. I always thought that Asia western food are very similar to US food. So, it shouldn't be any big problem for me. We have McDonalds, KFC, Chillis, TGI Fridays back at Malaysia. Nevertheless I am surprise with myself, after having meals over here for almost 1 week, I am still not used with their food. Too much oil, too much meat, too little vege. It makes me no appetite to eat at all.

We met 2 Malaysian who just finished studies at US. They are having their training at San Francisco. Nicholas and I hopped into their car and have a few drinks at the pub. It is nice to met some Malaysian at far far away. So glad to meet somebody. It is a wonderful night with them.

After San Francisco, we are going to Las Vegas and Los Angeles (Disneyland~!). I am curious whether that 2 cities will be the same as San Francisco or not.

Since this is a short post so there is not much talking here. Attached a few pictures first. More to come next ya~!

Asean Profession

2009-06-18T22:34:00.003+08:00

I went for a project meeting this afternoon. Again, I was the youngest in the whole project team. By the way, I am the youngest in the whole design firm except in Shanghai office. There is an much younger female engineer. She finished her Master degree at age 22. She is totally different story. Genius Chinese, you know?

Go back to my project meeting...When I discuss my work with one of the designer, I am a bit angry with him since he is not design according to what I have calculated. I told him that his design will fail during analysis and calculation. Somehow, he doesn't trust what I said and insist to talk to my senior engineer. Fine~! Since you don't trust me then go ahead and see what my senior will say. My senior engineer didn't work on this project at all because he pass everything to me. He is working on another project. In the end, the designer got the answer like what I have told him. Syiok~!

That particular designer is an Asean guy. He is always showing off to me that he has 10 years experience on ship yard, he know how to use 10 different softwares...bla bla bla...

I am working with some real old Norwegian on some other projects as well. Some of them easily has 20 or 30 years experience. It explains why I am the youngest. ( Nic: if you still remember, I told you before my department was celebrating birthday for one designer who is 55 years old with one dozen of wine as present) When I am working with them, they always trust my expertize. Trust my design, my calculation.

We should pay respect to senior employee who has many many years in certain particular field. I have no doubt on that. However, when a project involve people from different background, no matter how good you are in your own field, you still have to trust what other people told you.

Yes, I might be young. I am the youngest. So what~! That doesn't mean I am not good with what I do! Aiks...I don't want to classify all the Asean profesional people like that. Somehow, the phenomena of experience people don't trust the comment of young people always only happen among Asean profesion! If Asean countries want to be as good as European or American, they have to really change their mind. You need to always believe someone is always better than you regardless the age.

No seniority only capability. Understand?

幸福很简单

2009-06-12T01:49:00.004+08:00

有篇瓦
有碗饭
有个人

幸福

人老了。字少了。连幸福的定义都简单了。
幸福很简单，真的很简单。
真的很简单吗？
我希望很简单。

ps: my first chinese post. let's see how many people understand.

The Pursuit of Happiness

2009-06-03T05:08:00.003+08:00

Everyone want happiness in their life. However, nobody can own the happiness in life without paying any effort.

If you think being rich is the way to make you happy, then earn more, find more and save more money.

If you think being famous in the society is your definition of happiness in life, then contribute something to the society, build up your reputation among people, join politic party, do charity.

If you think have your own free time and freedom can make you happy, then sacrifice other thing which consume your time. Work less, play less, have a better time management.

If you think have a good relationship with your partner can brighten up your day, then care about her/him more. Love him/her, put more effort in your relationship.

The meaning of pursuit of happiness is "chasing after" your own happiness. You have to work for it, run to it and grab it with your own hand.

Just sitting there and wait for the happiness to drop from the sky? Common, wake up la.

Preikestolen + Kjerag, West Norway

2009-05-28T04:35:00.010+08:00

Preikestolen with Thum

Last weekend, Thum and I spent 4 days travel to West Norway for some hiking activity. Preikestolen or so called the Pulpit Rock in English is one of the famous hiking spot at Norway. Most of the travel advertisement of Norway will always show this either in postcard or brochure. Although the weather is not so good on the day we went up since we only have 4 days there so we continue our hiking trip without having much choice.

This is my first time to go for a hike. Physically, I am not tired. But, like Nic said although I have frequent work out still my body muscle are not used with hiking activity. My muscle especially my leg and thigh are really too weak. Both of my leg get tired so easily when I am going up the hill!

After 5 hours of hike, we reach the peak. Honest speaking, it is really worth my 5 hours to and for this gorgeous fjord view. Besides, the trail is not too difficult as well.

Looking down to Lysefjord from Preikestolen.

We are staying at Stavanger, a major oil and gas city for North Sea activity. Stavanger is not a big city and there is not much thing to do in the town too. Furthermore, it is a city which rain almost 300 days a year. On the second day, we woke up with a super sunny day. I was thinking if we don't want to hike on such a weather, isn't it a big waste?

Without thinking much, we start our journey to go for another hike on the second day. It sounds crazy, 2 people who never do any hiking but hike continuosly for 2 days. After we conquered Preikestolen, we are pretty confident about the definition of 5 hours trail. It is not that hard,right? Norwegian spent 4 hours, we spend only one hour more. Not so bad,right?

The road to Kjerag is really a nice drive for me. With a high performance car, perfect weather, cool road, best! Look at the picture on the above, we are actually driving from bottom of the mountain to the middle of the hill to start hiking. This time we were going to a rock which stuck between 2 vertical mountain which called Kjeragbolten. However, we are under estimate this little rock. The trail to Kjerag is really not easy. There are 3 slope which is almost 80 degree which is impossible to hike without the help of metal chain. Thum and I got small cuts and some injury on both our arms and palms by the end of the hike.

Still, it is cool? Again, worth right? =)

Life is like that

2009-05-13T23:55:00.007+08:00

There is once during dinner, I have this discussion with one of my colleague. His wife pass away in a road accident. She left him 2 children, a girl with 4 years old and a little boy who are just 1 year old.

When my colleague is young, he spent all his time to earn a living to raise up the 2 children. At that time, he is young and physically strong, healthy and energy without spending time to his life or children. When he is old now, he got the money and time but his body condition no longer allow him to go hiking, rock climbing. He also want to spend more time with the 2 kids but they already in high school with their own friend. No more sticky to the family. He said, that is the arrangement of God. Why we cannot have life in the other way?

Young with money, time.
Old with family, good body.

One of my best friend's father is diagnose with lung cancer. Fourth stage. Nothing can be done. When I hear the news, I wish to say something to make her feel better or offer her some help. But, I don't know what I can do nor what I can say. However, she is handling well, she told me life is like that.

I really don't like this sentence. Why life have to be like that?
Why there are so many things that we cannot change in our life?
We appreciate life, we love our life, we live our life to the maximum, but why?
Why life is like that?

Berlin, German

2009-05-03T01:45:00.005+08:00

Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, a church which is ruined strike during World War II but German purposely maintain it without any renovation.

At Germany, you can strongly feel there is one part of time is missing from this city. All the building in the city either very new and high tech or very old. The missing part is because they don't have any construction during the WWII and the reunification. Over here, you can see the effect of war every where and right in front of your eye. Either this Catherdal being air strike before or that palace is remove because of war.

Charlie Check Point where unknown number of lifes die here because trying to cross from East berlin to West berlin.

Me "trying" to cross the left over Berlin wall.=)

I am salute with German courage of admitting of what they had did during the war and towards Jews. There are not only having memorial park for Jewish but also have a Jewish musuem which I feel it is a must visit for whoever go to Berlin.

Maybe I had heard too much about how Japan is trying to hide the history, China is trying to hide the current issue, Malaysia is trying to ignore some contribution of non-Malay to our country, suddenly facing with German who are so openly display what they had did in the past is surprise me.

Jewish memorial park. Each block represent a grave for Jewish who had die throughout the years. All of them are same width and length but with different height.

I talked to my friend who had study at German for few years. Is it Germanic really can accept people discuss about what they did openly? They said that some Germanic still feel shame about it, however, the new generation are fine with it. No matter what, a country who dare to admit all their mistake is a country who can learn from the history. I believe that is the reason they are growing so fast in the last century.

Reichstag dome which is German Parliament building. Although it is free entrance but we have to go through extensive security check. Xin Jing and I were saying that because they worry somebody will bomb their parliament.

A walk in the dome. It is really cool! I feel as if I am walking in the air. I have to admit all their new architecture is very futuristic.

About the public transport, it is the most complicated I have ever met so far. My colleague called it as the most complete. Due to the completeness, it is also causing the complicateness. I am curious about Japan Tokyo now wondering how complicated the public transport is.

Berlin's beer with a bear which is berlin's emblem.

After so many serious story about Germany, let's talk about other Germany's famous - beer & pork. Their beer....er....not as bitter as the usual beer we have, it tastes lighter although the alchohol level is the same as other. They really drink beer everyday till they have so many ways of drinking it. Xin Jing tried coke + beer which surprisingly tastes good! You guys should try it at home. Berlin tradition red and green beer is not so interesting for me. At Germany, different part of people drink different beer.

Besides, my friend, Yeen Chow told me that at Southern Germany, there is one type of certificate which is Diploma for drinking beer. As long as you can finish 5 little of beer in 3 hours, you are entitle with a certificate. The 5 little of beer is different type of beers. Cool ya? Now, keep finger cross that I can go for the Oktoberfest at Munich!

German food all-in-one = Berlin's curry wrust, pork rib, pork knucle, pork patty, sour cabbage, grill potatoes.

Berliner are famous with their curry Wrust - curry sausage. I am not fancy about sausage, for me, it is ok. However, their pork knuckle is really amazing! I would not understand how could they cook pork until so tender. In my impression once pork is cooked, it will be as hard as stone unless it comes with many fat between the meat. But, the pork we have is not fat and as tender as chicken drumstick. It just tastes perfect! No wonder they are famous with their pork dishes. The pork rib...wow....wanginya...thumbs up.

Technology Musuem - a musuem with many airplane, ship, rocket from the war. I noticed many old white hair uncles were there too. I think it is a very nice musuem especially for guy who are crazy about military weapon.

Berlin has a lot of musuems and they are fun except the only problem is too little English. Xin Jing always said they are not tourist frinedly. I have to agree with that. After travel outside, it always make me thinking actually how Malaysia is. I make a little promise to myself, when I go back to Malaysia, I must visit all the museum that i visited during my primary school again. I want to see how is Malaysia Science musuem look like now, it is still as fun as in my memory when I am primary school. I want to visit National Musuem, the new Islamic Musuem and of course the fully of fun musuem - Petronas musuem at KLCC.

Any travelling around Euope before I go back Malaysia? I don't know maybe I will go Denmark once if time allows me to do so. Although Prague is always my number 1 wish to visit place at Europe but I do not think I am able to go in this few months. The most beautiful Europe city, Prague, sigh...Ok, so now, let's hope for our all-time-busy mr nicholas to post about US soon.

The Ranking of Life - Stockholm, Sweden

2009-04-24T23:54:00.019+08:00

Among love, friendship, family, money, career, what is your ranking for these?

Money will never be the first for me. I know a lot of people said that at my age, money should always come first. But, can you answer me what is the age that money should go behind? when you are 50? or 90? Nobody know how long he/she can live. Who knows maybe the next morning when you are on your way to work you already hit by a car and die at the age of 25?

One of a friend I knew during Baker Hugh interview always recall me the sudden of life. He went to the class as usual one day when he is on his way to university, he hit by a car. By the time he woke up is already 3 weeks after the incident. He is 1 year elder than me when we went interview together because he stop his studies for 2 semesters. After the accident, he always try all the dangerous thing like Bungee jump or roller coaster without thinking twice. It is because he know deeply what is the meaning of nobody knows what will happen tomorrow.

Every time before I go to travel, I will ask myself. Shall I keep the money? Or shall I just travel and look at the world without calculating what is the figure left in my bank account. Obviously, I am choosing the second option. You should see the world when you are still able to see the world.

I am not going to talk much about Stockholm trip as what I have did before. The most remarkable place that I been is the Nobel Museum. Although the museum is small with only words and poster, it gives very huge impact to me. The museum is exhibiting about all the Nobel winners, of course, and many information about human right. It tells how China is blocking the Internet information from the citizen, talks about Rwanda Genocide, under wage Indian work force who work 12 hours a day, under toxic situation (those work in dye factory) and etc. Human right, democracy, freedom of speech, sincerely wish Malaysia can be like that soon.

The reason of me sink into the sea

2009-04-23T03:55:00.005+08:00

Why I am so quiet recently? Why there is no post from me for the last 2 weeks? Am I sink into to North sea?

Nope. It is just because I travel continuously for 2 weekend and make me no time to blog about it.

So, let's hope for Stockholm, Sweden and Berlin,German trip next.

Stockholm, Sweden

Hotel Adlon at Berlin where Michael Jackson was "throwing" the baby through the window.

The End of Winter

2009-04-07T01:42:00.029+08:00

Many friends especially my colleague at China and Malaysia has been asking me to post more winter picture since the moment I came back to Norway. I am just too lazy to blog, no idea what to blog! But now, I guess I cannot delay the winter post anymore because spring is knocking the door!

A picture taken from my office parking as requested by all the colleague. The snow is higher than the car.

I love winter. Norwegian favourite question to foreigner: do you like to ski? Honestly, I like to ski, I enjoy cross country and Alpine ski, both. Although my ski experience with extremely muscle pain every inch of my body after my first cross country ski and bruise on knee + leg after my Alpine ski still I kinda like it now. Besides, I can go for some parallel turn instead of wedge turn on my last ski tour with my colleague. Hooray! Finish green slope this year, is it possible for Blue slope? Greedy me. =)

Company trip with the Norway office colleagues.

Credit to Sondre for taking the pic.

Every Norwegian go for ski during winter and I forced myself to upload all the ski picture by this week because Easter Holiday is coming on this weekend. Normally Norwegian will go for the last ski during the Easter Holiday after that they will keep their ski boot in the store. One of their practise in many Norwegian family.There is a cross country ski for children in the city centre of Sandefjord. Most of the "participant" are not really skiing to finish the track but rather let their parent to hold their hand to walk till the finish line. =) Look at Participant 68, how old is he?! 3?

And the participant cry out loud when they fall. haha

I admit that this winter had brought me some unpleasant experience - the accident and so much of trouble when I have to shovel the snow away. However, when I look at the snow flakes flying down from the sky in a quiet jungle, when I can go to the top of the ski mountain and looking down from there. I'll forgive you winter. Love you too.

Friendship? What is that?

2009-03-30T01:26:00.000+08:00

What is friendship for to you?

I am someone who really appreciate friendship. Most of my friend knows about that. I care about my lover, my family member, last but not least, my friend. I couldn't live without them.

Sometimes, I realise that some people really take friendship for granted. When they have problem, they will ask the help from you. When they break up or argue with the boy friend or girl friend, they will call you out to talk to you.

But...but... Once they are happily-ever-after with the partner, friendship? What is that?

Yam char? Not free, tired, busy with work, need to watch movie with boy friend, bla bla bla...

Friend for them is always at the last place. Unless their boy friend or girl friend not free, family member not free, colleague not free, client not free, then only will give the outing opportunity to their friend.

Although some of my friends are like that, I have scolded them, angry with them, remind them that they couldn't do so anymore. Still every time when they call me out, when they are hurt by the boy, I am still there for them.

Haih...

earth hour

2009-03-26T22:19:00.002+08:00

28/03/09...

2030 hours...

1 hour...

no lights...

is that too much to ask?

-earth hour-

ps: i've always had trouble convincing ppl around me to be more conscious about the environment... a friend once said that it's ironic i work in the oil and gas business... but i think we do what we can to make the world a better place... no?

Oh my Malaysia

2009-03-23T08:51:00.012+08:00

While people are discussing about how to solve the shortage of man power like not enough teacher problem and debating about the pro and con of using robot to replace human, my beloved country Malaysia still demonstrating about whether to use English or Malay Language for our education medium langue.

Japan robot, Saya

Both of us also consider as Asia country. Their history is not too old compare to Malaysia. I know that United State or Europe countries have a history few hundred more than Malaysia so our education system, human right, citizen civilisation are not as good as them is something acceptable for me. ( Monolog: excuse! ) Malaysia is only 5 or 6 hours flight from Japan! And why we are soooo sooooo damn behind them?! ( sorry really couldn’t control myself )

I love Malaysia. However, sometimes, on certain issues, I really couldn’t show my passionate towards Malaysia. Why couldn’t you guys just make Malaysia better? Ok…one step back, I am not so greedy and requesting you to be as good as Japan. But, at least, please don’t embarrasses ourself? Couldn’t you?

It is my country, your country, OUR country. Accept it or not, it is a fact that you will never able change. Since then, why don’t at least everyone do something for it’s own good?

Sigh….

happy birthday!

2009-03-20T01:09:00.002+08:00

my love,

just want to wish you a happy, happy birthday... although we're far apart, but our hearts are always together...

i love you... =)

What's After SPM

2009-03-12T17:24:00.010+08:00

There is a campaign called ‘ What’s after SPM?’. It collects the story what happen to you after your SPM from all the Malaysian. Check this out http://www.whatsafterspm.blogspot.com/

Hope to see young Malaysians are brave enough to do what they want, and to have a different and beautiful road from others. =)

ps: for whoever read my previous blog, I have remove it since it is a serious project which I feel it is not right to put add in 'my way' of comment on it.

from the ss3 with love...

2009-03-08T23:50:00.004+08:00

yup, i'm back on the ss3 - this time at sfjt-b (south furious jacket b) performing mostly ct jobs... we're here mostly for the chemicals and also on the pumping side... but then again, once on site, we're all wearing blue coveralls and we all have this big word 'schlumberger' plastered on our back... =)

this time around, i guess i've been busier than most of my other experiences offshore... barely had time to spend with my camera or books and i guess i only called home once in the 2 weeks i've been here? but i somehow still manage to sneak in a few shots...

the now very familiar view of the ss3 with sfjt-b in the background

sunrise from the ss3 with mt kinabalu to the right

i thought i've missed the sunset...

and 1 minute later, the sky turned bright orange...

i know my offshore posts are laden with sunrise/ sunset pics... but truth be told, i'll never get tired of these views... it is amazing to be in the middle of the wide blue ocean and let the beauty of nature take your breath away... i could honestly stand on the heli deck for hours (if only i had hours to spend...) during sunrise/ sunset times just to watch the skies above... so when i get the opportunity, i'll snap away hungrily at these views but my pics never do nature justice... it is something that you have to see it for yourself to appreciate it's beauty...

oh yeah, on another note... i think cl mentioned before that my offshore posts are always very dull without much description on my job... i've explained that i didn't want to reveal anything that i should not disclose on a public site... and just 2 weeks ago, we received a mail asking us to be prudent in making online statements via blogs, facebook groups and etc... i guess a world without boundaries has it's ups and downs...

then again, when have i ever said anything negative about slb, right? =)

whatever the circumstance is, the experience gained over the past 2 years (almost) is definitely character building experience... and every job that i've been to adds to my personality and broadens my horizon... for that i will always be thankful of this opportunity... yes, the work is tough and the hours are sometimes almost impossible... but i've been warned before and i've accepted the offer knowing the path ahead... so can't complain much there can i?

note: i'm working nights on this campaign (6pm to 6am) so i wake up to sunsets instead of sunrises... which is pretty weird... makes me feel like i sleep too much... =)

Jokes of the Day

2009-03-04T18:48:00.004+08:00

While I am having lunch with one whole bunch of Structural Engineers, these are some jokes I got today.

Joke A
There is one Chinese professor came to my university to give some class on integration and differentiation. After all the derivation, the lecturer look at me and said, I know...you must be thinking of the equation in 4D, but don't do so, just take the whole equation and integrate in 3D, then you will understand.

Actually when I am walking out of the lecture hall, my brain is not even thinking of the equation in 2D.

ps: for non-engineering reader, 3D means X Y and Z axis, 4 D means XYZ and time axis.

Joke B
In a bioengineering project, calculation/algebra guy will give a report of 400 pages.

Engineer will give 200 pages.

But, biology guy will only give 10 pages.

Lame? ok la...

Common Sense that Not Common

2009-02-24T16:47:00.015+08:00

snow is melting nowadays.

If there is some foreigner who read this, they must be fill with questions mark on top of their head. What is so special about all this tips? However, for someone like me who never stay at overseas, especially go through the winter, there are so many things that I never know until I came to Norway. As the title said, common sense for them but not common for typical Malaysian.

1, what to wear?
Always wear more layer instead of thick layer. This is a reminder I got from Kitt Yin before I came to Norway for the first time. Before this, I don't really understand and keep on asking her why? ( I like to ask why a lot on everything until Nic feels that I am annoying) Now, I am fully agreed with what she said. The main reason is you are not going to be outdoor all the while, once you go indoor, it will be warm again, then you will have to take off the jacket. Even go ski or staying outdoor at -20 degree ( the maximum I have experience, so those -25 or -30 I have no idea how it feels), long john (thinnest will do) + T shirt + cardigan/sweater + jacket will do. Jacket means even the thin layer as long as wind and water proof will do.

2, get wet?
snow/water or wind proof jacket, glove, shoe are important gear during winter. Sometimes, the weather is not too cold and bearable. You will feel very cold when the snow stick on your body and it melt become ice water or when the wind blow through your cloth. So as long as you can keep the wind and snow away, you will not feel cold anymore.

I couldn't open the balcony's door because the snow accumulate for the whole winter has block the door.

3, nose bleeding?
put a plate of water under the heater. Nose bleeding is an ordinary problem for people who just reach a cold and dry winter country. It is because the inner layer of your nose is too dry. Usually, you will be fine after few days and always ensure the humidity in the room.

4, skin itchy?
it means your skin are way too dry. Sometimes the skin will be so dry until it turns grey color. If regular body moisturizer cannot solve the problem, I recommended to use some body cream. And body shampoo also change to creammy/oil type which your body still feel slippery even after how many times you rinse off.

ya...the picture quality is bad, however, people are skiing instead of walking in the pic. (if you can see,haha)

5, feel cold?
I believe this is going to sound peculiar for some people. But, it is a good lesson I learn from one Norwegian colleague. I find it is really useful. A lot of people claimed that they will gain weight during winter because the weather is cold and they have to eat more to keep warm. But, I don't see that at Norway. When you feel cold, you shouldn't stay in the house and keep eating. Instead of staying at home when it is cold outside, you should go outside and walk or sport or whatever. The best way to keep your body warm is to move your body! Either go ski, shovel the snow, ice climbing, cycle, or just to take a walk around the housing area. (okay, I saw Norwegian jogging in the snow which I feel that is too extreme) If the snow is too much till couldn't go out, then just move around in the house, mop the floor or vacuum the house. It is always work. Eat more will not make your body feel warmer la, sial meh...

6, slippery road?
must must must! must change the tyre before winter come. Or else...you will be ends up like me. remember my first snow in norway incident? You will not know when the first snow will come, so is better you change one month before winter. If your car are more advance, it should have the ESP button. I don't know what it stands for, but it should be something like when you step on the break, you still can turn your car instead of lock the tyre.

7, Car fog?
remember that the air conditional must turn to allow the air ventilation inside the car. The outside air has to flow into the car to prevent fog on the window.

car versus snow level

8, Tyre stuck in snow?
don't spin the tyre too fast. The more power you step on the pedal, the tyre will spin faster, at the same time, it will lose the grip on the snow floor. So the best solution is let the typre slowly slowly spin and get back the grip to move forward.

9, wind screen water
ohh...don't forget to change the wind screen water to those unfrozen under -16 or -30 degree chemical. If not, once winter come, the whole tank of wind screen water will be froze to ice. Then you have to be prepare you can't clean your wind screen for the whole winter, otherwise, you have to remove the whole tank and melt the water inside.

Many people ask me to post some winter and snow picture, however, I don't have much snow picture. I don't know where to take, how to take and what to take. I have try my best and hope you enjoy the picture on top for the time being. I guess, I will have more winter pictures soon.

about winter? To be continue...

Pattaya, Thailand

2009-02-20T00:20:00.012+08:00

Pattaya beach

Before we went, we asked a lot of people where shall we spent most of the night. Bangkok? or Pattaya?

Friend A said Pattaya is just like Batu Feringgi, nothing is interesting, no need spend so many night.

Friend B said Pattaya is nicer because got more pub more night life.

Friend C said Bangkok? 2 days can finish liao la!

Friend D said you think leh? I had been visit Bangkok for 4 or 5 times, Bangkok definitely is the best la!Thailand is a place that had been visited by too many friends of us.

The more comments we accumulate, the more confusing we get. In the end, we decided to spend more days at Bangkok instead of Pattaya. Although a lot of people will surprise what can we do with so many days at Thailand, still we feel it is not enough. Maybe Nic and I were travel really too too slow,Bangkok...still have some places we haven't visit; Pattaya....I am not tan enough. I am still able to lie on the pool for few more days, explore more foods and etc.

Mango with Glutinous rice

If wanna talk about the quality of the beach, Pattaya is no way compare with Redang, not even Cherating. However, if you are going to Pattaya with a thinking that it is going to be a relaxing beach destination, then sorry, definitely you will be very disappointed. In the other hand, if you ignore the point that it is a beach instead just treat it as another famous tourist spot. Then you will full of surprise and enjoy it!! You wanna know what is the surprise I am talking about? =)

The world wide famous transsexual lady show… ( we went for Alcazar instead of the Tiffany)

Live sex show…male and female, male with male, male + male + female! Shemale show

Vagina show…or is it called ping pong show as well?

Surprise?!

I have heard a lot a lot of story about it. I guess I knew since I was real young. Penang is near to Thailand, so there are a lot of auntie uncle who always travel there. Those shows has been there for 10 or 20 years, so I knew it really long time ago. But, "know the existing" and "watching with your own eye" is really two different thing.

Pretty ya?

Talk about transsexual, Nic is always very proud of himself because he can so called "look through" whether is a she or he either from the apple, attitude or gesture. After the Alcazar show, about the transsexual at Thailand, the only conclusion that Mr Nic have to say is…no need waste the effort to distinguish whether is a she or he. As long as they are pretty, it is fine. Those shemale…they are just too perfect! In every single way. The body, the face, the gesture, and some of them don't even have Adam's apple!

Male and female having sex in front of you? Something like watching porn movie lo. Male + male + female? Okay la… But, male + male with karma sutra position and like gymnasitc? Argh!! It just…just freak me out. Eewww… (clarify, I am ok with gay but not seeing them in their own private action,ok?) Zhi Ying said she went for the live sex show at Amsterdam. I saw those banner but I didn’t go in. From the way she describe, it is not much surprise. I went in to the Go go bar at Amsterdam, lady with bikini dancing on the bar pool (something like Patpong bar, which is so common for Thai). And I also know there is a bar at Amsterdam where every waitress and waiter are totally naked. Still, I would like to say Amsterdam is nowhere compare to Pattaya. Hahaha…If you have a chance to travel Amsterdam, save the money for those show and spend on trying new weed since you can watch all those show at Pattaya with much lower price and more entertaining.

Vagina show…ya…heard of it…many many times. But, when you are there, with your own eye, even Mr Cool – Nic's jaw is just....drop. Put live bird, fish, tortoise, shaving blade into the vagina, blowing off candle, shooting banana with it…er…enough action talk I guess.

Is it fun? Isn’t it fun? We are not talking about the quality of the sand, how beautiful is the sunset or sunrise, no beach talk. But just listening to all I have mention on the above, I believe it already worth for a trip there.

However, all the show I said are prohibitted to take picture. They are very strict on this, ok? So I couldn't attach any of those "interesting" part for the trip. Nevertheless, here are some candid photograph during the stay. Enjoy!

ps: I am trying to have some slide show with those picture. But it seems like this code is not too good and I am lazy to do anything on it right now. I will get a better code for the next photo post.

Pattaya Picture

wedding bells...

2009-02-16T22:46:00.006+08:00

had the good fortune of being in kl for zh's wedding on valentine's day - cheeky guy to pick such a date for his wedding... he won't have trouble remembering the anniversary date now... and 1 gift for 2 occasions... how smart is that? hehehe...

i already had to miss out on ang's wedding and i'm praying hard that i won't miss zh's wedding as well... and guess what? looks like my prayers were answered indeed! well, i'll keep this post short and sweet... it was a beautiful wedding and i'm so very glad that i was there to witness it...

anyway, to zi hui - congratulations bro and have a blessed marriage... was really happy to be a part of your wedding... =)

zi hui and sze yann moments before exchanging vows...

you may now kiss the bride - never thought i would see this scene... thought we were forever young... =P

mr and mrs lo zi hui...

the newly weds walking down the aisle...

the next couple headed for the aisle?

victoria institution

2009-02-16T22:29:00.005+08:00

this for me has always been victoria institution... i have never known it by any other name... but to hear it officially recognized as victoria institution does put a smile to my face...

however, this school is not just about the name and the past glories... and no - i shall not condemn the school or it's students for all the "shortcomings" or "failure" to live up to it's traditions... all i want to do is to remind the current victorians to wear the school badge with pride and to always remember these lines from the school song...

Let us now with thankfulness

Praise the founders of our School

Let us now with thankfulness

Praise the founders of our School

For their foresight and devotion

Some who came across the ocean

Some Malaya's own sons

All true Victorians

Let us next remember here

All who passed through this our School

Let us next remember here

All who passed through this our School

Not one race but one in feeling

For a school to each appealing

That instruction be not all

Nor this School just roof and wall

Let us lastly pledge ourselves

Ever to uphold our School

Let us lastly pledge ourselves

Ever to uphold our School

In our work and in our leisure

With such zeal and in such measure

That the new Victorians

Match with Old Victorians

Bangkok, Thailand

2009-02-08T07:43:00.037+08:00

Bangkok city night view

Nic said that I am going to have a long post. Since he already make the promise, it seems that I have no other choice. Before this, I am enjoying my holiday at Malaysia. During that period of time, I am really too busy to meet every single of my friend until I totally ignore this blog.

But now, I believe is time for me to record down my trip to Bangkok.

Traffic jam at 10pm?

I have heard a lot of people said how busy Bangkok is but until today I have never been to a city which is really more busy and dense than Kuala Lumpur. I know that New York, Tokyo, Jakarta, Mumbai, Shanghai will definately more crowded than KL since I never been to those places so Bangkok is consider the first city I feel the busyness.

The amout of car, people, building...wow...eye opening. The traffic jam which is so bad until 24 hours jam, the jam for the whole highway which might be 10km long. I believe due to the traffic jam, it trains all the tuk-tuk driver's amazing skill a 90 degree turn, from third lane cut into first lane in split second. The taxi driver that can follow the car in front all the way without even letting a motor bike over take him.

Tuk tuk driver that peeking through the mirror, laughing at us because we were so scare with his driving skill.

ei ei...don't keep on talking bad about Bangkok. Many friends of mine who like to visit Bangkok definately they have their own reason. Food is always one of the factor that whether I like a place or not. Like I don't mind to go Italy for few more times because its cheap and nice wine. And Bangkok will definately a place that I will go back again if I have the chance because of the food.

The food is not only cheap but the variety and quality of it really really add a lot of credit to the whole trip. No matter the food in the restaurant or snack at the road side also always surprise me. Needless to say, the world wide famous tom yam, the green curry, the pork satay that Jason mention in his blog, the mango sticky rice, the fried kueh teow, the kueh teow teng, even the wan tan mee! Oh my god, it is enough for the list now.

Almost forget to mention about my carelssness about the trip. Whenever I travel at Europe, I will always check the weather forecast before I go. Before I go Thailand, I am very excited for a holiday with hot sun, windy and beach. When I am packing my luggage, I brought all my short pants, mini skirt, strapless T shirt. But I am so so so wrong!! I thought Thailand is South East Asia country. I thought all Asia country will be as hot as Malaysia. Silly me! When I reach Bangkok it was during the winter time. Bangkok with winter? Bangkok with 14 degree celcius? Much colder than Genting Highlands? Haih...really really shame by sillyness. =p Lesson learned, no matter where you guys are going in future...must! must check the weather forecast before travel.

As all the tourist did, we did visit all the tourist spots and shopping centres.

Enough story telling in the beginning, let me write the rest of this trip in an Engineer way. haha...

Siam paragon, centre world - cheap levis and bra for ladies. Besides, it is a good place to see a lot of pretty secondary school girl with sexy uniform hanging around the shopping mall.

Pratuchat - a must visit place if you guys plan to buy souvenier or any T shirt. One very important tip, must buy at least 3 pieces or above. The price will be total totally different if you buy more than 3 pieces.

Patpong - it looks exactly like Petaling Street except along the street there are full of pubs where got young ladies who wear bikini and dancing on the stage.

The only good auntie at Floating Market

Floating Market - full of bad bad hawker who sell super duper expensive stuff to tourist except for an old auntie who is selling cake. The worst part is all the souvenier they sell I can guarantee you can find the same stuff at Bangkok city with much cheaper price. They are bad not only because they sell expensive stuff, they will not give you back your changes if you give them big notes. They will either ask you to give them the rest of the changes as tips, or they will push something else to you as in return. BAD!

Grand Palace - hmmm....it is really grand as the name said. But, like Vatican Musuem, please estimate you need to spend one whole afternoon there. And please be prepare that it is going to be very very hot and tired after the visit.

Temple of Dawn

Dawn Temple - Although the Grand Palace has a very nice temple which bling bling from every single angle, still Dawn Temple is a not bad place to visit if you have the time. Some how, it has its own uniqueness. The detail of the craving and the steep steps are something different from the other temple.

Some of my friends said that I never put any picture of Nic and I together at Facebook. Let me attach a picture of us took at Grand Palace here. The temple grand, gold and shine or not?

conflict

2009-01-29T21:10:00.004+08:00

the sun rises, brightly blazing in the skies

a new day, a fresh start - the same dreams

awoke with hopes and desires and spirit

ready to face the challenges of the day

the day is full of choices, decisions

equipped for some, guessing for most

i took the one less traveled by

and that has made all the difference

i'm still fighting but i'm barely breathing

i feel small, inadequate - like an infant

i dropped to my knees and hold my hands

in prayer, asking for guidance and strength

the stars and moon sings a sweet lullaby

the phone rings, a familiar voice says hello

a voice so soothing, takes the troubles away

goodnight troubles, there's always tomorrow

ps: the last 2 lines of the second verse was taken from 'the road not taken' by robert frost.

i dun think i am the kind to actually travel uncharted territory. however when i am faced with a decision, i usually take the one that would challenge me the most. dun get me wrong and mistaken me as the adventurous kind that laughs at the face of danger. everytime i'm face with a decision like that, i decide with fear in my heart... for i know i'm taking a risk and as risk always is - sometimes it pays off, sometimes it hits you back in the face...

but i also believe that we should live life to the fullest every single day, no? so i make decisions that would not make me look back with regret 5 years down the road. again, this is a phrase often overused and abused. it's always easier said than done. always. for you always gain something by losing something else... and more times than most, it's always something precious and close to your heart that you will have to sacrifice.

how many of you out there understands this post? not many i think... i just felt that lately, my posts have been without a personal touch... without emotions... for fear of something or another, i've made my posts very neutral... i think it's time i started to express my feelings again in a form that i enjoy doing... it's time i use this blog for the very purpose i started it in the beginning...

ps2: do expect a long post (most probably from cl, as i will use my usual excuse of the lack of time to write one) and lots of pics (i can contribute to this) in the near future. i have just returned from a 16 day vacation in which i've travelled to bangkok and pattaya of thailand and also to penang for cny...

oh yeah, a very happy new year and may the year of the ox gives us all enough resilience to face the tough times that lie ahead of us... =)

Wishing List

2009-01-08T15:19:00.018+08:00

From Kitt Yin and Taka blog, I saw a list of stuff they wish. A so called Wishing List. Looking at their wishing list, it makes me wonder....what will be the item on my wishing list. My wishing list changes from time to time. As I grow up, the price of those items on my wishing list is getting more and more expensive as well.

I am someone who feel grateful with what I am owning. No matter poor as student, or earning little money as an engineer, I am always feel satisfy with what I am having. And I am always telling myself to appreciate what I have now. Even though I am satisfy with what I have, everyone still have a wish list, and I have mine too. Am I contradicting myself? =)

Today, an item that want to be rank on my wishing list, it has to be at least 4 digits. Want to be on top of my wishing list? er....maybe...RM xxx xxx?

When I am 10 years old, a pencil box which cost RM 15 sounds so expensive for me.
When I am 15 years old, a school bag which cost RM 150 sounds 'wow' to me as well.
When I am 18 years old, a top which cost RM200 sounds so far from me.
When I am 25 years old on 2009, it has to be a RM xx xxx only can make me 'wow'.
What will happen when I am 30 years old? RM x xxx xxx?

It is like an exponential graph which climbing a steep slope that even myself begin to question against myself. Am I going to lost myself in this materialistic world? I couldn't control it since my brain and eye are the boss. Their are the one who're looking at more and more super branded stuff.

I had a conversation with Jessica Tan about it that day. She feels nothing wrong with that. Human are tend to climb up. By putting our target to more expensive thing, we will work harder, earn more and aim higher. It signifies that we are growing up and moving forward. I agreed with her. Deep inside my heart, I feel nothing wrong as well. (anything wrong meh?! chew)

On the other side, I start to worry that am I getting more and more materialistic? Am I becoming someone who only buy the most high technology hand phone, dine in those restaurant rated 4 star in magazine, study on all the fashion magazine and website which is the latest hand bag from Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Hermes, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta? Am I? Am I?

Aiming for more expensive thing...

good? bad?

However, I am still the one who wear a cloth from aunties boutique, like to buy earring from little stall, shop for shoe from night market (pasar malam)! Me is still me. Yes, I admit that I am getting more and more greedy. I am not so easy to satisfy anymore. Nonetheless, my eye still widely open, I am not yet blind by money. Never.

The end of 2008 - The start of 2009

2008-12-18T17:08:00.011+08:00

Reading michaelooi.net in the morning as usual in my office.

He has the habit of writing a summary when it comes to year end. A post that summarise what had happen in the past and resolution for the coming year. I was thinking shall i write a summary of what i have done for the past 1 year?

Looking at his summary, I feel that at my stages of life, it is really too many unknowns. For people like him, everything seems to be so in order. He can make a list of what he plan to do; he can sum a list of what he had done too.

But for me...I can't have any resolution for the coming year since I am not sure how long I will be working at Norway. How long I will be in this company? How long I will start to buy my first house? How long for me to get into marriage?

I can't be like him...resolution is luxurious for me.

How to summarise what I have done for the past one year as well? What I have done? A new job? Travel a few countries? What does it has to do with adding value to my life?

Don't want to talk about my life, I only can summarise what I have write here for the past one year and what I want to write in the coming year. I has been writing in this blog for about one year.

The first time when Nicholas introduce me into this blog, he mentioned that I will have some Chinese post. Until today, I never write anything in Chinese. Throughout the year, I wrote down many article in Chinese, but never post it because I doubt how many people in this blog can understand. I feels that 90% reader from this blog are Nic's friend who don't read Chinese. Since majority of the reader don't understand Chinese, so I never have the motivation to blog in Chinese. Another reason I said that I might write in Chinese because of my poor English.

The more I write the more I am frustrating by the limitation of vocabulary and adjective. Especially adjective, it is still very troublesome for me whenever I want to describe what I see and how I feel. It is a good sign that I am aware of the it. But, I feel frust because I couldn't break through the barrier. I has been reading English book for some years, writing here for the past one year. I don't see any big improvement in my English.

At the same time, I can foreseen my Chinese is walking away from me. Honestly, I am always feel sad when my Chinese is deteriorate. One of my wish in the next year is I want to keep my Chinese level. I do not dare to say I want to improve it, at least, I want to maintain. Besides, I hope that I can learn more on the Chinese culture in year 2009. Something that I has been wanted for so long. Keep finger cross I will have the determination for it.

I talked to many people about the deteriorate of my Chinese. None of them feel it is a problem and they don't understand why I am so bother by it. All of them agreed that English is much more important today. I shall pay more effort to concern about my English rather than maintain my Chinese. More over, my Chinese foundation is consider very good. I admit that my definition of so called 'good in one language' is very strict. Be able to speak, write, read is not my definition of command the language. It has to be include to know well about the culture, literature and history too.

I has travel some place in the last year and I blog most of them. The reason I blog is to share some travel information on my personal feel instead of those typical information we can get from the net. Second reason is I want to recorded down some memory as well. From Nic and my notice, reader doesn't seems to be interest on my travel post. Reader are more interest on post regarding personal feeling. So, I might cut down those blog in the year 2009. Besides, I am a bit tired of travelling too. One conclusion I can make for my year 2008, I am not someone who like to travel. Travel is not be my hobby.

I do notice a lot of blog will normally post about their sad moment or story. Rarely will have anyone who write something happy. Because sadness is an emotion that will spread faster than happiness. However, I don't like to write some serious and heavy feeling post. Me is still me. In the coming year, I will still post happy moment instead of sad moment. haha...

That's it. After this, I will spent more time with family and friends. So, should be less post from now on.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

from the ss3 with love...

2008-12-14T22:51:00.000+08:00

well, the title should read from west alliance/ miri/ ocean rover/ miri/ ss3 with love... with a little bit of labuan here and there... =P

the past one month has been crazy (in terms of travelling) for me...

05/11/08 - miri

06/11/08 - west alliance

13/11/08 - labuan

14/11/08 - miri

16/11/08 - kl (i'll talk bout this later...)

17/11/08 - miri

18/11/08 - labuan

19/11/08 - ocean rover

23/11/08 - miri

07/12/08 - labuan

10/12/08 - ss3

and hopefully back to kl before xmas... *fingers crossed*

how crazy was that? and really, all those travelling and changing of locations just took the whole month away from me in a blink of an eye... actually, thinking back, the whole year went by in a heart beat didn't it? the year started kinda slow, picked up pace by around may or june and now it's coming to an end at warp speed...

anyway, here i am, on ss3 once more for a datafrac job on barton 206. simple job in terms of the operation and execution but pretty much technical. it'll be interesting coz for the 10 weeks or so that i spent in oman, we've been performing datafrac before every prop frac job and i didn't have a clue on what's going on... i just knew that we were getting critical data out of the job, but that's about it... and now, after school and after catching up on all the technical aspects of the job, i'll actually be able to read the plots and know for sure (i hope) what it is exactly that i'm looking at...

but really, lately, i've been so absorbed in my work and trying to catch up on so many things that i've just lost touch on almost everything else... i barely called/ chatted with cl over the past one month... i've barely called my parents... i missed one of my best friends' wedding... and as you've probably noticed, i've abandoned this space of mine as well... at times, i was just too busy to do anything about it... but at times i've gotta admit, i was just purely tired and lazy... so while the ss3 is being anchored down, i'm just taking this opportunity to tell the world (if anyone is interested) that i'm still here!

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*for ang*

congratulations on your wedding... i'm so sorry that i had to miss your wedding and trust me, if i've had any other options i would have been there... the first among us to tie the knot and i missed it! darn... anyway, wish you all the happiness with spl and may we soon see little angs running around... =P

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btw, although i've always dreamt of celebrating a white xmas - christmas has always been associated with snow so i guess that holds true for every kid who's never seen snow... but i'm in danger of celebrating a very blue xmas this year... surrounded by the wide, blue south china sea... =(

right now it still looks very likely that i'm still gonna be able to make it home before xmas... but there is a slight possibility that i won't and i'm praying hard that i'll be home for xmas...

well, i've gotta go now... it's getting really late and this post is getting really long... i'll end this post with all the pictures to make up the past one month that i've left this blog alone...

flaring on the west alliance - thanks to this very successful well, we once again went to the west alliance, rigged up and rigged down without executing our job...

this is me letting out all my frustrations at having to go through the same experience... twice!

just being a proud malaysian on the west alliance...

been on a few rigs now, but i've never seen them jacked down before... here's 2 of them that came in for maintenance at the labuan jetty...

here is the ocean rover... and a successful job for murphy oil...

remember the west setia and the kikeh spar?

they never cease to amaze me... we're in deep waters here - water depth at 1300m... some ppl feel sick even on the rig and these fishermen stay on those boats for days - come rain or shine...

after 4 visits to miri, i finally had the chance to see the grand old lady on canada hill - the first ever land rig in sarawak... thanks to amie...

sadly this is just a replica of the original... not only the structure but also the location... i think it would have been so cool if they could have maintained the original... maybe they can still do that with the last land rig in sarawak?

the view of miri from canada hill... see that tall building in the middle? i stayed there on my last trip to miri for 2 weeks - that's the mega hotel... and the building on the right is the imperial hotel which i stayed in my first 2 visits to miri...

tusan beach... also in miri - courtesy of amie amir again... says this is a good place for her geological field work of some sort... =)

we arrived just in time to catch the sunset...

need more work with my photography skills...

Santa Claus is coming to town...

2008-12-09T03:05:00.015+08:00

Norwegian have some Christmas traditions and I want to share with everyone here. First, it is the Jule Calendar or Christmas Calendar. A calendar which has 24 days on it. It is a count down calendar to Christmas from 1 of December until 25 December. Every day, the small kid at home will open a box which means one day nearer to Chirstmas. They also will receive one small present everytime they open the day. It means 25 presents for one Christmas!!! Sounds cool,right!! 25 Christmas presents leh.

However, my Norwegian teacher told me that those present usually are small presents for kids. For example some eraser, pencil, ruler or most common is chocolate. Some major chocolate manufacturer will have the Christmas calendar which contain 24 different types of chocolate. Everyday, the kid can open and take one chocolate from the calendar until Christmas.

This is a Christmas Calendar from Kinder Chocolate. But, this calendar doesn't belong to any kids. Somehow, many process engineers in our company bought the calendar too. =)

As you all can see, the calendar already has 5 empty spaces which means 5 days gone and it is getting nearer to Christmas! However, instead of taking one chocolate per day, those engineer sometimes took 2 chocolates a day! I took the picture on 2 or 3 of December. They are not following the rules!

This is a photo taken from my office's reception which is a simple candle stand. Some are really nice.

Another tradition is the 4 candle for 4 Sunday on December. On the first Sunday of December, the family will light one candle after breakfast. They will only light one candle each Sunday. The second Sunday, they will light the 2nd candle. And it goes until the 4th Sunday which is the end of Christmas month. So those candles are different height with one is shorter than the other one.

When they are lighting the candle, they will read a tradition poem together. The meaning of the poem is something like the first candle will bring happiness and the last candle will bring peace to everyone who shine under the candle light. I couldn't remember the meaning of second and third candles. I have the poem but it is in the car and I am lazy to take it since it is cold outside. =P

Besides, Norwegian eat pork, pork sausage, some red cabbage and fish during Christmas dinner. Usually they will not eat beef on the festival. And, they also have their own version of Santa Claus - Fjøsnisse. They believe in a small version of Santa Claus who will take care of their animal. He is the secret keeper in the barn. So most of the family will leave one bowl of porridge with a spoon for him on Christmas Eve night. If he eat the porridge and the bowl is empty on the next morning, it means those sheep, goat and cow in the barn will be save for the following year. If not, it might have some sickness to the animals. I don't have the picture of the little Santa Claus. But, it looks exactly same like Santa Claus except it is much smaller in size. All kids are looking forward for white Christmas, they will not be happy if the snow is too little during the Christmas. As I heard from all the Norwegian, the snow at Norway is getting less year by year due to the global warming.

Wish the snow will always cover this peaceful land - Norway on each Christmas. And wish everyone to have a great Christmas.

Amsterdam, The Netherland

2008-11-25T23:38:00.016+08:00

holland = windmill

I went Amsterdam 2 weeks ago. This is a trip which different with all the trip that I went before because the main purpose of the trip is not going for sight seeing but for the night life at Amsterdam. =)

1. drugs
no doubt, Amsterdam is famous for that. A country which smoke weed is legal. Along the street, you can see coffee shop everywhere. Every street at least will have 2 or 3 coffee shops. Obs…forget to explain, the meaning of coffee shop does not mean you can drink coffee there. Instead it means you can smoke weed there. The product of weed is not only in cigarette, it also came in lollipop ( I wanna buy to bring back to MY so much!! But worry later get caught =P ), cake ( so called space cake), chewing gum, candy. Besides, there have one type of mushroom which called magic mushroom. It is really-to-eat. A mushroom that can make you hallucinate after consume.

Did I try? Er…yes, of course. =) But, I admit that I am scare, only smoke a few puff of tobacco + little little weed, the cheapest indeed.

How do I feel?…er….feel like the world is spinning lo. =)

As I heard, different people will have different reaction and feeling after drugs. Those drugs will strengthen your personality which either be positive or negative. Fyi, my travel mate keep on smiling for the whole night after the cheapest tobacco + weed.

2. red light district

cannot take picture of the girls, so...''fancy'' chocolate as a replacement?

er hem….sophie and I were expecting that there will be naked women standing in front of the glass door. We were disappointed. They are not totally naked, however, in their very very sexy bikini. Read from a lot of websites, it is forbidden to take picture of those prostitute. Of course, it is rude by the way. So, no picture here.

The first time we reached the red light district in the morning guess what we saw? Super duper fat and ugly auntie who wear bikini and sat there waiting for the customer. Eaukkks….i was thinking…what the?!! This type of quality?? Cannot be!

After that, I get to know that renting the glass window is something like renting a shop. If you rent at night, the rental is expensive. It is much cheaper during the day time. So if your business is not so good, of course you will rent in the morning. So who will rent the window in the morning?

I went there at night again. And now..it looks more a like…better quality now, haha…Those girls will knock on their window when there are single guys walk pass. A way to promote themself. They will not invite youngsters who walk in a group since they know those youngsters are there to 'see' but 'buy'. Some of them will talk in their phone, do manicure in their own space. Even you stand in front and look at them, they will totally ignore yous existence and treat you as transparent. (maybe because I am gal, not potential customer)

The glass room is really a cute space. And I have to say, really convenient…it is a small room which occupy with a bed, a basin, and a chair. There is a huge glass window with curtain and door. Once the customer enter the room, pull up the curtain....shh....

We over heard the negotiation between the client and the prostitute. It is about €50 from a quite pretty girl. What type of service does that €50 included, then I am not sure. We suspect €50 is just for one time. No kiss, no squeeze. =P

Most of the pretty girls will not stand at the main street window. The main red light district street are not so many prostitute shops. If you walk to the small small alley that split from the main red light district road, you can see even more! Those alley are as small as only 1 person can pass at once. I saw one asian prostitute lo! Not bad not bad.

3. club

once 11pm, not only have to queue to enter, but also need to go through metal detector before enter.

We went a famous club named "Escape" at 930pm. Usually I will go clubbing from 10pm to 12am at Kuala Lumpur or Penang. We were early that night and I was expecting to sit in the club for some drinks while waiting for the club to fill up. That is how we used to be at Malaysia, I think. Surprisingly, when we reached the club, it is written Business Hour 2300 – 0500. what?! Not yet open? We waited till 11pm then only able to enter the club. Before enter, we had to go through metal detector! This is the first time I saw a metal detector for a night club.

At Amsterdam, most of the street are dead, pretty dead from 8pm – 11pm even red light district also the same. After11pm, only can start seeing people flow into the street. The city is dead from 8-9am as well, it wake up on 10 or 11am. It is a city which is so focus on the night life until everyone there seems to be sleep late and start late.

4. beer + absinthe

heineken logo

World famous beer, Heineken brewery is located at Amsterdam city. Heineken Experience is a famous things-to-do there. What does it means by Heineken Experience? It means you can experience how Heineken brew their famous beer step by step. You are not only allow to visit their brewery, you are entitle to taste the beer there as well.

I thought Heineken experience is closed under construction when I visited Amsterdam. I read the news from Heineken official website. But a guy who is selling bus ticket told me that although it is under construction still it open for visitor. Yeah! yeah!

Since I visited during construction time, it is €5 cheaper! Basically the whole construction is 90% complete only left the main entrance path which is still under construction. So, I didn’t lose anything even visit during their renovation. The valuable part about the Heineken Experience is not able to visit how Heineken brew their beer, but is the staff will teach you how to taste beer! According to the staff, tasting beer is like tasting wine. Should smell, look at the color, then only taste! Wow….only beer…

absinthe

Absinthe is a type of herb liquor which can contain super duper high alcohol level which can go up until 70 or 85% of alcohol. Basically it is something like drink alcohol from chemistry lab la. (i heard russia's vodka can go up to 95% alcohol level, that one is really drinking alcohol from lab) Amsterdam banned all the businessmen sell absinthe few years back. The funny part is…it is illegal to sell, but legal to drink, own or buy…har? So? Doesn't make sense, right? The owner of a liquor shop told me that it is just some business trick between wine and absinthe maker. The wine maker are jealous of the hot selling absinthe at amsterdam so they go to the Parliament and making noise want to ban absinthe. So, the parliament set the rule to ban people from selling absinthe from then on.

Enough travel Europe post for time being. I wish that the next travel blog that I am going to post is a travel experience to Asia country. After so many posts about Europe, I feel that I shall write more about Malaysia instead of Europe. When I go back to Malaysia this time, I will blog more on KL, Penang, Taiping and etc. I plan to write down more on Malaysia local food. So that when I am homesick next time, at least I can read it from the blog. Can't wait to be home lo!!

Distant vs Love

2008-11-19T05:30:00.006+08:00

Some of my friends just broke up with their partner recently. The major culprit of them walking on their own path is because they are not physically together. So called long distant relationship.

Is it physically together is that important in a relationship? Does physically together is a guarantee that the relationship will not have prob? Is it both of them dating with each other everyday means they are deeply in love?

So many husband and wife are sleeping on the same bed every night for more than 10 or 20 years, some of them living under the same roof for half of their life, still, divorce, affairs, argument...

Ain't them physically attach enough?

The soul is not there, the love is not there means it is not there.

I know...when you are weak, you wish that your loved one can be there by your side to share your sorrow. When you are happy, you wish that he or she is the first one who know the great news.

However, even he/she can't share the joy with you, the pain or sorrow with you at the first moment, is that reason valid enough to leave the one you love the most?

He or she is your love. Someone you choose that you are willing to spend the rest of your life with. I always believe it is not easy for two strangers to fall in love together, to walk the same path together. He/she is someone that you are willing to tell him/her that you love her. It is easy to break up but it is never easy to get back together once there is a scar in the relationship.

Although we are too young to talk about death, but every couple, no matter how sweet they are now, nobody can be physically together forever. One day, one of them will leave the world first. Then the partner will be living in this world...alone.

Can God of Death wash away our love even he/she left us forever? Can time faded our missing to him/her?

Even death cannot separate two lover apart

ps: this is a sculpture from Gustav Vigeland at Vigelandsparken, Oslo. One of my favourite.

money vs dream

2008-11-17T11:01:00.003+08:00

heart talk

go for your dream. you're still young. with time to fail and start fresh. it's going to be an adventure. you're going into the unknown. give yourself that chance. you deserve it.

logic talk

money. career stability. bright future. forget your dream.

Vatican City, Vatican

2008-11-05T03:25:00.044+08:00

Whoever go to Rome, I believe that they will pay a visit to Vatican City as well.

Once I reach the hostel, the receptionist already warn us that if we are going to Vatican City, he recommended us to get up early and reach there by 730am. 730am?!! Means I have to wake up 7am in the morning to get ready? No way...i am not going to wake up that early especially going for a trip.

At the second day, I reached Vatican City about 8am in the morning....ends up....the queue to enter vatican museum is surrounding the 1/4 of the country's perimeter! sial...I was thinking, haih...this time don't know have to wait until when only can enter vatican. Luckily, the queue is moving quite fast, so it doesn't matter. Frankly speaking, it is really scary when I first saw the queue.

long long queue...

We directly went into Vatican Museum, I recommended whoever go to Vatican Museum, it is better to bring along a friend who has strong knowledge about Christianity and bible. Most of the paintings are related to the history of Christianity. Without the knowledge, basically, you will be totally blur from the moment you enter the museum until you walk out from there.

If you are travel with 2 or 3 friends, it is better to have a tour guide along. I didn’t hire a tour guide instead I rented the audio system. It cost RM50 and I didn’t even listen to half of the content but trust me, it is worth. Without it, I am like an idiot walking inside a big building. I don’t like that feeling. It makes me feel I waste my money to enter the museum.

Majority of the tour guides will speak in front of the team, then every tour member will wear one wireless earphone. So whoever left behind also can listen to what the tour guide says. Most of the corridors in the museum are narrow, it is impossible to get a place for the tour group to gather in a round and start explaining. It will block other visitor to proceed. You can hear multi national language of tour guide over there. When you choose the tour, you are not only can choose for English tour guide, but even can choose Italian, France, Britain or US accent of English!

i saw mummy!! at vatican museum

One of the most famous fresco in the Vatican Museum is God creates Adam, the first man by Michelangelo at Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo draw the 9 scenes from Book of Genesis, Old Testament on the ceiling! For me, by reading the bible especially the Genesis already make me super duper confuse. I am someone who like to imagine the picture in my brain when I am reading something. Like even when I am studying, I will try to remember the ''picture'' or ''image'' of the equation instead of memorise it. Genesis is always a chapter which is too abstract for me. Divide Land and water?? har??light and darkness?? Nevertheless, Michelangelo manage to transform it from the word to a graphic. The most amazing things is when I look at the painting, it gives me the feeling of...yes...this is what bible said...this is how it looks like...

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Normally those movie which transform from book to picture, most of the reader will hate the movie. Because when we read the book, we always have our own perception and expectation of the character in the book. We always assume how the character suppose to be in our brain. When it comes to movie, the picture is display in front of us, without the space of imagination, the real life is always not as nice as we thought. Ends up, book is always better than movie like Harry potter, Da Vincci Code.....

The last judgment on the altar.

But Michelangelo managed to draw the imagine from the bible and show it in such a beautiful way to us until I have to agree with it. His painting convince me to believe that what he draw is what the bible says. That is how God create heaven and earth, create the first man.

It is illegal to take picture inside Sistine Chapel. The most famous phase that we can hear from the guard in the chapel is....''silence please...no picture....'' All the pictures inside Sistine chapel are taken by my friend under risk of being caught. =P

One of the corridor in the Vatican Museum.

Every corner or ceiling or column of the museum are full of painting and decoration.

For whoever plans to visit the museum, it is recommended to estimate you have to spend minimum 3 hours there. Only the museum, not included the basilica, ok? Even you are not a big fan of the Christianity history or art, assuming every single display item, you take 30seconds to look at it also need about 2 – 3 hours to finish the museum. If you are someone who are really interested to find out more for some items, then you will ends up like me….5 hours…I am still consider fast because I try not to spend too long since I knew that I have to visit some other places on that day. Besides, I also try not to waste too much time on taking pictures ( still I took about few hundred pictures inside there). Can you imagine how big is the museum? I heard that Louve Paris is even much bigger than Vatican museum.

Err….actually I also spent some time to buy rosary as well. Vatican museum is really a good place to shop for rosary. Over here, you can get various design of rosary. Buying rosary here is not simply because it is from the holy see, it is also because many design that I never see at Malaysia. Yes, the price maybe a bit higher. I fall in love with a rosary necklace that cost few thousand ringgit. =P But those rosary are really a piece of jewellery, rosary with gold plated that can wear as necklace, rosary with silver plated, rosary with black pearl, with crystal, rosary as bracelet…However, if once you walk out from the Vatican wall, those rosary is selling at much lower price. But, I over heard one tour guide said, although it is just a wall difference, but buying from inside is consider buy from the holy see, once u buy over the wall, it is consider you buy from Italy not Vatican anymore.

I spent about 5 hours inside Vatican museum. Initially, I plan to attend sunday mass and visit the museum museum on the same day. But, it closed on Sunday. So, I have to go to Vatican again on Sunday morning and visit the museum on the other day. After the first visit to Vatican city, this time, although the general announcement start at 10am, still I reach there at 8am. (never ever 2 hours earlier to reach church, hahaha) I thought I am early but I am absolutely wrong again.

queue + queue + queue

Again!! super duper long queue. It is really a tiring mass. 2 hours queue just to enter Piazza St Pietro, usual 30 mins to Holy communion become another 2 hours to it. 15 min first reading become 1 hour only first reading....seriously.....very very tired after the mass.

sunday mass, many people leh?

At Malaysia, we will have dual lingual mass. But at Vatican City, there will have multi lingual mass...Italian, Spanish, Hindi, English....whenever the announcement is using Italy language, all Italian will stand up and hooray~~!!Hindi, all indian will be waving India national flag....and HOooray~~~!!Spanish, all the Spanish youngster will stand on top of the chair, yeah !! yeah~~!!English....cool...calm....too little Christian who speak english there. It looks like a concert more than an Sunday Mass. Luckily, when praying or some serious session, everyone still keep quiet.

never ever visit vatican city on sunday if you are not going for the mass

When the mass finish, finally I have the time to visit Saint Peter Basilica or so called San Pietro in Italy language. It is famous because of the tomb of Saint Peter, who was one of the twelve apostles. It is huge, as huge as you can fit the Statue of Liberty in the dome where the main altar sits with room to spare!

human is tiny in the house of God

I am really astonish by the basilica. After visiting the Saint Peter Basilica, I believe there is no other church in the world could gave me such impact anymore. The size, the altar, the chapel, the carving, the nave, the fresco, the ceiling...every single corner of the Saint Peter Basic ilia is an individual piece of art.

I had visited the Cathedral at London. Yes, it is large and nice as well. But compare to Saint Peter Basilica, it is nothing. Those cathedral doesn't give an impact, such feeling. For Saint Peter Basilica, once you step in, your mouth will just drop...and...wah....My travel mate said that it doesn't look like a praying place at all because it is really too huge. A praying place that can fit 60,000 disciples?!

It is really a must visit for everyone who visit Rome and Vatican City. Finally, end my post with a picture of adorable Swiss Guard. =)

First snow at Norway

2008-10-30T01:27:00.007+08:00

This morning when I woke up and open the door to go to office as usual. This is what enter my eye...

snow....I was late to office for the past 2 days, reached office around 9am. Since I wanna reach office early, so I purposely woke up early. Due to the stupid snow, I am going to reach office late again because I have to start the car, let the engine warm up and clear off all the snow on the wind screen. Gggggrrrr.....stupid snow.....

It is the first snow in my life. Still....not excited...I am cursing it like hell....@#%$^@$^%^ (make me late again)
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Let's go!! Go office lo!!
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People always said driving on road which cover with snow is very slippery, but I feel ok all the way from my house to the office with summer tyre. (ya, i haven't change to winter tyre yet...)

Suddenly, when I took the last corner right in front of my office, the car just lose control, the steering is not listening to me!!!

Arrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh~~~~!!!

Accident happen. My car fly over the rock. =(

(can you see other cars in front of it? that is my office parking space)

Because it happen right in front of the office, so everyone who go to office will see my car is 'hanging' there. Today, everyone got a good laugh at me. I am the winner of this winter and very famous in the office today since everyone know that is my car.

In the afternoon, I got the news that norway highway got a few acccidents with more than 10 cars bang together. Along the way home just now, there are some cars which lost control as well. It is early snow for Norway and many drivers haven't change to winter tyre yet.

Every winter, there will be someone who lost control at the junction in front of my office. Last year, the car fly and bang to another 3 cars which stop at my office car park. I am consider lucky because the rock stop my car from being 'fly' and bang to other cars.

In a nutshell, don't curse snow. She is small gas...kecik hati...shh.....
karma...

Rome, Italy

2008-10-23T01:26:00.029+08:00

I went to Rome for 4 days trip few weeks back. As usual, the post is always few weeks after my travel. Rome is a city that full of history and basilica. I am amazed by the glorious achievement of the Roman Empire. Becaues of this trip, I start to realise that how poor is my history foundation. Ya ya ya, it is poor even before I go there. But, I never aware of how serious it is!When I am doing research for the trip, I am so confuse with all the emperor, painter, artist, war, pope....bla bla bla... ! How I wish to have more time to improve myself on it, seriously.

Colosseum

First of all, of course I am going to talk about Colosseum. Colosseum souvenir is everywhere at Italy. It came across my eye whever I am there. Besides, Hollywood did plenty of movies about Colosseum as well. It is not something new for me, not at all. I believe almost most of the people in the world knows about it. When I were walking towards Colosseum, by the time it goes into my eyea my blood flush, my heart pumps. I am totally overwhelm by the structure. Titling my head up and looking at it, speechless....(haih....my English...my poor vocab....)

Colosseum---it may not as tall as Twin Tower, or the going-to-be-the-tallest-building at Dubai (lazy to search what that building called), still....his impact to the everyone who had seen him is something that modern building cannot make it. No wonder it is one of the 7 wonders of the world for so many years.Modern world keep on building skyscraper, trying to compete who has the tallest building in the world. Your country may claim to have the tallest building in the world, but within few years from now, another building will be taller than yours by that few inch or meter difference. So, what's the point of building the tallest?

Fountain di Trevi

Fountain di Trevi is one of the reason I am fancy about Rome. Please don't laugh at my silliness. I know it sounds shallow if I want to visit Rome for this. But, I am being honest here. Fountain di Trevi is always one of the place that I want to go. And...I make it!=) According to the legend, throw one coin with your right hand through your left shoulder, and make a wish, you will have second visit to Rome. Throw 2nd coin again, you will meet a guy and fall in love with him at Rome. Throw the 3rd coin, you will marry a Rome guy!!

I thought I am always positive with human attitude and always forgive what others had done to me. Seriously, this is something I will not forget. Talk about fountain di trevi, I have to mention a souvenir shop that right opposite of the fountain. As you all know, Nic's mother like to collect fridge magnet, I am planning to buy some souvenir back. When I entered the shop, I read the sign about DO NOT TOUCH on top of the fridge magnet rack. However, I saw some magnet that I never seen in that shop that other stalls don't have, so I took it up and choosing for other magnet. At the mean time, the shop lady walk towards me and I asked: how much is this? Instead of answering my question, she said: did you see the sign of DO NOT TOUCH? I said: ya...but I want to buy it, if I don't touch, how am I going to buy it? Maybe she didn't hear me clearly by my poor english or her poor english (most Italian don't speak English at all) but she replied with her finger point point at the sign of DO NOT TOUCH. And then, I was a bit angry, and I said, if I am not going to touch it means I am not going to buy. ( i guess i raise my voice a little bit, and some other people look at us) The boss of the shop walk to us and said, it is fine if you don't want to buy, thank you for your visit. @#@#$%^&* I should have just take the fridge magnet and throw a 10 euro on the floor! So angry!! Ggggrrrr....

a cup of cappuccino that take less than 1 min to serve. faster than kopitiam uncle's kopi.

It is a new habit that I have after start working at Norway or shall refer back to Bali trip. I will try the local coffee wherever I go. I love Bali local coffee - the sweetness even without any sugar added, love Barcelona coffee too with the thick texture, so so with Norway sour coffee. Nevertheless at Rome, I saw another culture of drinking coffee. Rather than blog about how the coffee taste, I have to talk about how Italian drink the coffee. Italian like to just stand beside the bar, and wait for their coffee instead of sitting down to drink. They will STAND until finish the coffee! It is new for me. I suspect that the main reason they do so is because once you sit down, the restaurant will have the right to require for service charge since you are sit in dine. The service charge sometime is not the usual 10%, but it might goes up to 20 or 30%. So, most of the lower class coffee shop, you can see everyone just stand there and drink.

Rose window. I don't know why but I always love it.

The church. Almost every street at Rome will have a church or basilica. Some of it may look small from the outside but never judge a book by its cover. Surprisingly, everyone of it got its own unique and beauty. Deeply fall in love with the church's painting on ceiling and rose windows.

There are so many things for me to write about this trip, too many stories to share. I haven't share about the the pasta I ate, the Rome Termini that full of Be Aware of Pick Pocket sign, the tidy road condition that has accident every day, gelato - the tasty Rome ice cream...The wine is cheap! I am not a good wine taster. I only know how to differentiate dry or not. Over there with 3 to 5 Euro wine, no matter white or red, it just taste so good! It is smooth....go into my throat, the aroma...really love this part about Italy.

Anyway, the length of this post is enough by now, I believe that I shall stop. I don't like a post which is super duper long, so I am not going to write a super duper long post as well. Unless...someone are interested to know more about Rome story, then I shall consider to write more about it in future post. =P

most of the city roads are narrow. parking at rome is challenging from the view of a Penangite. keke... can you park as near as this? i can't.

In conclusion, I would said this is just an okay trip for me. Yes, I am overwhelming by all the church and historical building. At the same time, I am really disappointed with the Italian attitude as well.

santa maria basilica's altar

What make a country attractive is not only by the history or culture, building, beach or natural scenery, the people plays a role as well. Building, scenery are dead, human are alive! Maybe most of the travel advertisement or brochure, rarely the editor will take the people as a selling point. But, undeniable, the people is always something that will make you remember back the trip. The auntie who show you the way when you lost, the guy who bring you to bus station, the lady who help you with the ticket machines...These are the thing that warm a traveller heart, these are the thing that will left behind in someone's heart.

ps: i will blog about Vatican City and Pisa at different post during the weekend. Hopefully....

from ss3 with love...

2008-10-19T13:30:00.010+08:00

this post is long overdue and i've been trying to keep up with my work schedule and still make time for blogging but i've found out that it is kinda tough... =)

so, from my short trip back to kl for my eye check-up, i flew straight to kota belut to go onboard the ss3. well, i've heard of stories about this place but that still did not prepare me for what i saw when i reached kota belut. it definitely is a very "interesting" town - cows, ponies and plenty of dogs roaming the road... shops closing at 6 pm... and somehow, that place has hair saloons in every block in town... no idea why though... =)

anyway, from there, i went onboard the ss3 the following day. and from all my experiences so far, i guess this is the closest i've felt to being seasick... the water was kinda rough and the 90 minute boat ride to the ss3 did not help at all. i reached the ss3 with a growing headache and i was in time for a job actually. so we started pumping and my headache was still growing...

it was a bad first day to say the least. but from then on, the one week onboard was pretty smooth sailing - 5 treatments pumped. and in between, the crew onboard celebrated hari raya. we had a bbq dinner on the first day of raya and well, despite the best efforts to create a cheerful atmosphere, i sensed that most of the crew really would prefer to be home. who wouldn't right? but the dedication these guys have - that's the essence which keeps this company and this business thriving.

the slb crew at the hari raya bbq

the thing about every location that i've been to is that we've always got a great crew to work with. no matter the time of the day or no matter how tired we all are, we still manage to have a laugh and it was always a good atmosphere to work in. and it's always the crew that keeps me going as well. especially more since i'm still pretty new and probably not as mentally strong as i'm supposed to be...

port side view of the ss3 and south furious jacket e platform

starboard view with the personnel transfer boat in the background

picture taken on the first night i was on board

picture taken on the last night i was onboard (i like the effect)

about my photography... i've had my nikon d60 for about 4 months now and i dun really have the time to experiment except when i'm offshore (this makes offshore sound like a vacation)... but in those times that i've had, i've started to really enjoy taking photos of the sky... i used to be only interested in taking sun rise and sun sets, but lately i've started to prefer taking photos as you see below... it's no masterpiece or anything close to it, but it does make me stare in awe... mother nature is an artist and the sky is her canvas... =)

love the fiery look behind the clouds...

the cloud looks like cotton candy...

and this last photo is a courtesy of terry's arm... it has an uncanny resemblance to zeus with a shade of hades, which metaphorically speaking really does work for me... everyone has to be nice essentially but with a shade of evil... muahahaha... =)

really cool tattoo...

Autumn

2008-10-06T04:54:00.003+08:00

credit to anas yang terer ( claim by himself)

Without any notice, autumn is knocking on the door. The temperature on the weather forecast is starting to fall as if competing with the leaf on the tree. The green mountain that I used to see on my way to work has been splash by yellow color.

Rain rain rain...autumn is a season that full of rain. It has been raining almost everyday for the past few weeks. Nobody like autumn as I know, at least for Norwegian. The rain makes autumn even more annoy till the beautiful maple tree cannot save his sin.

Summer....needless to say, full of sun and joy. fishing...swimming in the sea...endless barbecue... Summer is always lovely.

Winter...snow with snow...however, at least, can go snowboard, ski or having little snowman outside the house. Not that bad.

Autumn? rain with rain...the weather is neither cold nor hot. It is not hot enough for me to go jogging, and it is not cold enough for me to enjoy snow.

Fall fall fall...as the name mean...my mood starts to fall as well.

210908: finally...

2008-09-29T20:31:00.004+08:00

for those of you who understands the significance of this white hat, it's a huge relief after 14 months...

from west alliance with love...

2008-09-29T20:05:00.006+08:00

this post is slightly belated as i haven't had the time to breathe (the good type) ever since i got back from the rig...

i flew out to miri on the 14th and had the chance to meet up with a friend for dinner. nice town i have to say... much better than labuan for sure. and then i flew out to the rig the very next day.

the rig is similar to west setia so i had no problem finding my way there. anyway, i was there for about a week before the job got cancelled (not gonna discuss the technicality of the job here). pretty disappointing considering the fact that we were so prepared...

despite it being a similar rig to the west setia, the experience of being offshore is still pretty new to me therefore i still find it interesting. the conditions humans are capable of enduring, the brains that are at work... it's all really amazing stuff... and not to mention the view - simply breathtaking. i have to say being surrounded by the sea is a better environment than to be surrounded by the desert... =)

anyway, here's a few pics taken on the rig...

told you the rig has breathtaking views...

schlumberger and our big, ass kicking equipments...

part of the night crew (left to right): azrul, aubrey, arzad and terry

and at the end of it all, i took a few days off to go home... yup, home sweet home... it's actually for the follow-up on my eye treatment but at this point, any trip back home on any reason is great news...=)

What is healthy food?

2008-09-24T03:46:00.009+08:00

My cubicle drawer.

This is a habit since my previous company. Usually my cubicle will have a lot of snack like candy, chocolate, chewing gum, potatoes chip and bla bla bla. Ricola is one of my all time favourite candy from Malaysia to Norway. (although the price is increasing as if the Ricola is flying from Malaysia to Norway as well) I love chocolate cookies! So chocolate cookies will be on the list most of the time too. I am always adventurous on trying different brand of chocolate cookies.

These few weeks, I has been working over time quite a lot. My stomach will start to feel hungry once the clock hit 4pm. =) It is because my stomach know it is time to be home! If I am not home by 430pm, she will start to complain....'cluuuu cluuu cluuuuu' At that time, there is no food left at the canteen as well. So, my little food stall plays an important role at that time.

Snacks at cubicle is not only useful when I work OT. It is a way to 'social' with colleague as well. I don't smoke, so I don't hang up at smoking area to socialize with other colleague. But, I am someone who always provide food to people around me. =) Whoever is hungry when they work OT, they will know where to go. hahaha...

Although all the food in the picture on the above are unhealthy, however, I insisted that I ate more healthy food at Norway compre to Malaysia.

Attach my breakfast picture as prove. I love to eat cherry tomatoes, I had it lunch, breakfast, dinner, basically it became kinda a snack for me now. hehe...

My breakfast. tah nah~~healthy leh?

Still?! What is so nice about healthy food?! I hate healthy food!

Nasi lemak unhealthy? But I miss it so much...
Teh tarik unhealthy? I miss it so much...

"#%"&"%4£$@&(&§! healthy food!

leaving on a jet plane

2008-09-14T14:13:00.004+08:00

i'm leaving labuan tonight at 1910 hours. not really on a jet plane. more like a crappy plane... hehehe...

i'm going over to miri for the night before flying out to west alliance tomorrow. again, not on a jet plane. this time, on a chopper.

all these rigs have cool names huh? west alliance - sounds pretty cool to me.

i've never been to miri before but they tell me it's not too bad. i won't be in miri for long enough to venture around town though. just need to get there and get some much needed sleep. hope the hotel is good. dun need a 5 star place, just as long as it's not some dodgy motel or something. like the one they put me up in kemaman when i went there for an interview. worst place ever.

btw, i hear it's not easy to get any internet connection on west alliance. so i guess i'll be handing over the care of my blog solely to cliu for the next 2 weeks or so. and this time i'm gonna be busier than when i was on west setia. but again, i hope to be able to take just as many pictures... =)

gotta go now... have some lunch, pack my stuff and get ready for the airport...

hope the job goes smooth... *fingers crossed*

i love my job!

2008-09-11T19:30:00.003+08:00

that's been the msg on my msn messenger for the past couple of weeks. and i've received a surprising number of comments from my frens... i wonder why...

is it really so hard to believe that i love my job? or even worse - is it so rare to find ppl who actually love their job?

ps: this is not a statement that i do love my job, and it's also not a statement that i dun love my job. it's a very neutral question... =)

anyway, i'm really tied up right now and dun have too much time to spare. but then again, i dun wanna leave my blog for too long... so this'll be a short one...

i miss a good vacation...

i need a good vacation...

Language

2008-08-31T16:23:00.012+08:00

A lot of people were amazed with me be able to speak so many languages. Norwegian was shock that I can speak Mandarin, Malay language and English. China chinese was amazed with me able to speak and understand Teow Chew, Hokkien and Cantonese. Besides that, I speak much formal and better Mandarin than most of the China Chinese.

They get even shock when they know that I am able to read and write too. Although I had explained to them, at Malaysia, everyone can speak few languages. Malaysian who are able to speak as many language as me are everywhere. Nic's mum can even speak Tamil! One more language than me.

Still, in this country, Norway, no matter how many languages I know also useless because I don't speak Norwegian language. The sentence that I used the most at Norway is : '' I don't speak Norwegian language. Can you speak English?''

I think it is time for me to learn some Norwegian language or French or Spanish. Because.....

There are 12 different languages in this instruction label, among 12 languages, I know none of them!

Har? What is this?

And...situation like this...happen all the time. Haih...

empty canvas

2008-08-24T11:36:00.008+08:00

white is the colour of purity

white is the colour of innocence

white is the colour of lost hope

are you with me?

red is the colour of passion

red is the colour of strength

red is the colour of arrogance

are you with me?

blue is the colour of calm

blue is the colour of peace

blue is the colour of depression

are you with me?

black is the colour of tranquility

black is the colour of the universe

black is the colour of mourning

are you with me?

what is the colour of your canvas?

what is the colour of your life?

what is the colour you woke up to?

are you with me?

my canvas needs to be completed

my canvas needs the right touch

my canvas needs a plethora of colours

are you with me?

my canvas needs the colour of desire

my canvas needs the colour of hope

my canvas needs the colour of love

are you with me?

from west setia with love...

2008-08-17T14:48:00.013+08:00

how many posts have i written with that title on?

anyway, i'm currently writing from a rig called the west setia. it's running a murphy operation at the moment and i've been here for 6 days now and will probably be here for another 2 to 3 days (i think). i've gotta add that i dun sleep on the rig since the accommodation here is full. so every day and night, i get transferred to and from a supply boat (NOR Star) like this...

pretty cool huh? i've seen it so many times on videos and stuff but i've never actually been on one of those baskets before... and the boat with the huge flare that you see behind, that's an fpso... the flare is huge! and loud! the supply boat basically picks up personnel from the rig and also from the fpso... so every morning, when we get close to the fpso, i'll need a ear plug and i'll try to stay in the shade as i can feel the heat from the flare... yes, it is that hot and loud!

and every morning, i'm greeted by this view... breathtaking ain't it? well, it'll be nice and cool for the first few days, but after 3 days of the same thing 360 degrees around you, it gets pretty boring... =P

ok, now to the highlight of this post. let me introduce to you - west setia!

if you look at the pic above, the structure on the left is the west setia rig and the structure on the right is the kikeh spar platform. it's a relatively enormous structure (not gigantic but you get the idea) and yet, on a relatively calm day, it still rocks gently. i've gotta admit that i can't stay indoors for too long - on the rig or on the boat... makes me feel kinda sick... so every few hours, i'll just go out and have some fresh air...

and this pic is the pic of the rig and platform taken from the heli deck at night. it was after one of the pumping job and i was waiting for my ride back to my "hotel room"... =)

that's pretty much all the pics that i have right now. i've actually taken more than 300 shots but most of them are experimental, so they're either over-exposed, under-exposed or pretty blur... hahaha... i'll sort through them again and see if there's anything else worth posting here...

btw, it's been a pretty good first time experience for me here on a rig. it's not as bad as i thought, but then again, it's not a full fledged frac job so i still can't judge based on this trip. but i'd say this was a good introduction to the offshore environment for me.

ps: i saw a couple of baby dolphins last night (i assume they're babies since they're much smaller than what i thought they'd be) - another first for me... =)

time for some fresh air...

My Fishing Diary

2008-08-13T05:25:00.002+08:00

Since the first week I came Norway, I had been following my colleagues to go fishing. Although I do not have my own fishing rod, still, every time when I go, I will use their fishing rod to fish for some time. Anas, even that fellow who only follow them go fishing once in a blue moon also manage to get 3 fishes! 3 fishes, ok? He never go fishing at Malaysia, me too. Both of us consider beginner. Some more I start fishing 1 month earlier than him! Besides that, I went fishing once every week. But, him?! Once in a month? And sleep in the car while waiting others to finish fish? Seriously, I am really unbalance and don't understand why he manage to get 3 fishes instead of me.

Yes...I know. A lot of people told me that fishing sometimes is depend on luck too. But, comon! I went much more than him. Even my luck is so so 'soi' (bad luck), according to probability, the chance of me getting a fish is still higher than him.

However...the real point of this post is......=)

'
'

I got my first fish at Norway on 10 August 2008! Finally...

Wah hahaha...couldn't stop jumping around when I got the fish.

Ya. I know that it is small...Still...better than nothing. =)

My little cod fish by measuring with my hp.

finally...

2008-08-12T12:43:00.002+08:00

i'm finally going to go offshore for a job!

it's going to be in the west setia rig and it's just gonna be a short stint - probably about 5 days but nothing is guaranteed here...

i admit i'm kinda excited to taste offshore environment for the first time. the fact that it's not going to be a long stay probably eased any fears of mine.

anyway, i've tried living in the desert for some time so i guess this time i'll get to experience for myself the difference between seeing sand all around you and seeing water all around you...

i'll try to post some pics if i get internet connection on the rig. if not, the pics will come in a week or so.

all right, i've gotta go. got a chopper to catch!

Norway Folk Musuem

2008-08-06T00:32:00.011+08:00

I was back to Malaysia and return to Norway now. Time flies. Time to gather with family and friends is so little. I didn't waste any day at all, spend all the time to meet as many friends and relatives as I can. But, I am greedy, I don't feel that l have enough time with them. As I am back to Norway now, my feeling of return to Norway is blue and heavy. It is not good. This feeling will make my time here clicks slower. I need to be cheer up!

I went to this museum before I went back to Malaysia. No time to online at Malaysia, so I am updating it now. And recently Nic is updating a lot as well. I shouldn't be so lazy anymore. There are many museum at norway. From Viking museum to whaling museum to bla bla bla museum. However, this Norwegian Folk Musuem is always one of the must visit. By visiting this musuem, you will be able to understand the general history of the whole norway. It is an open air musuem, we spent the whole afternoon in the musuem. They actually relocated all the old building from different centuries and location at Norway and reconstruct it at the mususem. In this museum, you can see all the Norwegian building from 13 century to 19 century.

They built this without any foundation down into the ground. So that the whole house can moved whenever they want to. (there are more reason behind it, but I forgot =P)

Inside the museum, there is a Stave church. AGAIN, Norwegian relocate the church from Gol into the musuem. The church is dendrochronologically dated to 1212. I didn’t spend too much time in the church since there is a wedding going on later. =) The church is attractive to me not only from the over all structure but also the craving on the wood. Unlike Balinese craving, Norwegian craving got their own style.

Zaitul and I

Anas always said Norway church design looks like dark age building. scary...

For reader who had read my previous blog about the flåm trip, during that trip, we saw a lot of house’s roof with some small plant. At that time, we were just curious about it. From the musuem, we knew that this so called green roof is very useful and common for norwegian house. It has been around for centuries. For norwegian, the major function of green roof is to cool down the house during summer and to reduce heat loss during winter. It looks cute and new to me.

Houses with green roof (alto it doesn't look green in the pic)

Since the trip was really too long ago, so I can't really recall much things anymore. Although I can find the booklet I got from the musuem if I want to post more information about the musuem and Norway history, but kinda lazy. I guess, not many people are interested to know it as well. So, let's this post be general and light for you guys to read.

fading dream...

2008-08-02T18:32:00.002+08:00

i used to think that challenges and obstacles are there for us to conquer. i used to think that i could reach for the stars if i just aim high enough and i work hard for it with the right attitude. i used to think that when i put my mind and heart to work a cause, nothing could stop me from achieving my target, my goal. i used to think...

but my dream is slowly slipping away from my grasp. i can feel the hope fading. from a burning desire in my heart, it's now merely a flicker waiting for a whisper of a wind to end any desire i might still have lurking in the dark corners of my mind.

ladies and gentlemen, may i present the new look for owrc001! (one year too late)

speaking of dreams, this new look will probably remain a dream as well as i doubt the university would raise the budget to manufacture this body according to specification. i've had high hopes of seeing my baby manufactured and put through a series of wind tunnel testing and stuff as projects for future final year students. but i highly doubt that scenario would materialize.

pictures were taken from the pdf copy of my final year project thesis hence the poor quality. apologies for that. looking through the 168 pages of effort, the memories just came flooding back. i'm not sure if it was a good project or not, but i'm mighty proud of the results.

so the purpose of this blog. this is the fading dream. for a while there, it really did kill my confidence. i started to doubt everything i did and everything that i worked for. thought it wasn't good enough. it probably is, it probably isn't. whatever it is, i guess i did all i can at that time to achieve my dreams but it just wasn't enough. as a consequence, the dream is slipping further away with each turning month. and i'm in a position now where the risk to pursue my dreams is much greater. and it's a risk that i do not dare to take.

anyway, i vaguely recall that i wanted to write about my final year project here. but after delaying it for so long, i guess these pics will have to do. anyway, if anyone out there is doing a similar project or if anyone is interested to talk about stuff like this, leave a comment and i'm more than happy to get back to you.

ps: not sure if you understood what my fading dream is all about. but too lazy to explain it further. =P

1 year

2008-07-31T12:58:00.008+08:00

today marks 1 year since i left uni and joined the workforce. 1 year in the blue coverall. 1 year with schlumberger.

the photo taken above has nothing to do with this post. but probably has something to do with what i'm feeling right about now. go figure.

x marks the spot...

2008-07-29T21:15:00.003+08:00

i typed a really long post about something i read the other day through an online tutorial. something about setting a lifetime goal and basically breaking it down to pieces and turning them into short term goals that is easier to visualize. then i went about the usual "what's my goal?" road and started complaining about not having anything solid enough for me to grasp. then i stopped.

i think it is about time i stopped thinking about what is ahead of me. stop fearing where my next step is gonna take me to. just stop and start living. i've always had the "what if?" question lingering in my mind and that has made me cautious of every move i make. i've come to realize that life is not a game of chess. it's ok to be random and to take risks and to throw caution to the wind and to be free once in a while.

actually i have no idea at all what this post is about... =)

my mind and heart is in a million places thinking about a million things right now. but one thing for sure - i miss the sight of these towers at night...

picture taken with sony t200 last year during cl's birthday...

24/07/04

2008-07-24T17:10:00.006+08:00

nothing much to blog about really but i just felt i need to for the sake of my blog...

it's been 4 years since i started writing here and i still can't believe i've managed to sustain this blog for so long. there were times in the past when i almost gave up on this blog (due to laziness, nothing more... hehehe...) but still somehow, it kept going on.

i remember starting this blog when it's really just a blog. when bloggers remain low profile and no one really cared too much about what is written here. now, you've got celebrity bloggers, political bloggers, bloggers bringing each other to court... it's a mess really. i'm no celebrity blogger and the traffic on my blog reaches a max of 50 per day (once upon a time) and i guess half of it comes from me checking my own blog and my frens.

but all in all, this blog does serve it's purpose which is a space for me to vent out my feelings unchecked (well, not really 100% unchecked but it's good enough...) and more than that, it's my personal space for me to keep track of the changes that i've been through and stuff. i read back the older posts and find myself amazed at how much i've changed. it's obvious even from the way i'm writing.

anyway, that was 4 years back when i was still in uni worrying about my grades. now...

picture taken by cl when she was here for the past few days with my new bought nikon d60... =)

i've really got no words to describe where i am right now in terms of... well... everything. but then again, life goes on and we shall see where life takes me next yeah?

to quote neo from matrix (not the exact quote but close enough) - i don't believe in fate. i don't like the idea of me not having control over my own life.

but i do believe in destiny. our path has been carved ahead of us. god has everything in place but it's up to us to realize our role and to accept our path.

to quote morpheus from matrix - all i can do is show you the door. you are the one who has to walk through it.

haha... dun ask me why the sudden matrix mania. no idea why all these lines are stuck in my head...

ok. i'm getting sidetracked here. anyway, i'll just end the post here and get back to work. =)

happy anniversary unfinished_article!

down memory lane

2008-07-17T17:41:00.003+08:00

in reply to cl's comments, i can't find the most recent photo of the 6 of us but this is the oldest that i have. this goes back 8 years to the much hyped year 2000. this was taken the night before we conquered (hiked sounds more appropriate) mount kinabalu.

guys, if anyone of you have any recent photo of us, can you please forward it to me? i'd like to post it here. it'll be cool to see how each one of us has changed... =)

jason: the photoshop idea is not too bad, but lets keep that for a last resort yeah?

quick update...

2008-07-11T18:24:00.003+08:00

i've got less than 30 mins to do this, so it'll be have to be short. right now, i'm posted in labuan and i'm not entirely sure for how long. but career-wise at least it looks good. there are a few jobs coming up and i'm hoping to get some offshore job exposure. it's gonna be a brand new experience for me to be working offshore - not sure if it's exciting or scary yet...

personally, i've been in a mind war of some sort with myself. my closest friends knows all about it. but it's something that i definitely have to deal with but not here. for now, it'll stay private and confidential. =P

and talking about my closest friends, remember my brothers from high school? jason, jacky, ang, zi hui and kam? well, the wedding bells are ringing for 2 of them! amazing huh? it still felt like just yesterday we were fooling around in school being the carefree (but totally cool) kids we were and now, 2 of them are actually officially becoming men... hehehe...

i'm not gonna disclose which one of them are getting married coz i'm not so sure if they want the news to be spreading yet. but if you know us well enough, it should be easy to guess looking at our current situation... =)

i didn't know if i should post it here, but it's such great news, i couldn't help it... =P

ok, my time is up. gotta go.

oh yeah, i'm living in an extremely huge house now, but i'm all alone. it's not nice. =(

ps: it's officially 3 months since i last saw cl... =(